


Three Years

by Liyada



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: Action, Angst, But I put it anyway in case of, Characters will be updated as they appear, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Gen, Isshu-chihou | Unova Region (Pokemon), Kalos-chihou | Kalos Region (Pokemon), Mystery, Pokémon Batle, The Major Character Death is complicate and I'm not sure it can count like it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 69,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22308121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liyada/pseuds/Liyada
Summary: Some secrets should never be revealed. Or should they?After a strange explosion, X and Y fear the apparition if a new threat for Kalos, and decide to get themselves implicate. But things are not as simple as they look, and nothing will go the way they want. And as those attacks take bigger scales and start to involve a large number of people, they would have no choice but to find the motive behind them to stop them; even if it means getting back on some bitter memories from three years ago they all would have preferred to forget...Updates every two weeks!
Comments: 14
Kudos: 9





	1. Part one, Kalos - Chapter one - The Explosion

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> Guess I should explain a bit of thing, right? I started to write this fanfic more than one year ago. Or, at this time, I was not really familiar with AO3, did not had an account at all, so I did not post it here but on fanfiction.net and Wattpad. The thing being, one year happened since, and now I mainly post here. This fanfic being my main fanfiction, I had to eventually move it here one day to have all my current fanfics available all together in at least one place. So here we go!
> 
> So this fanfic has actually 13 chapters posted on the other sites, and is currently on a hiatus until the 14th March, with normally (when I can keep it) a new chapter every two weeks. I don't want to post all the chapters here at once, but I don't want either to not have post all of them when I will get out of hiatus in March. It is why, for the moment being, I will post two chapters per week, the Saturday and Wednesday, until I have post all the first thirteen chapters, with a few exceptions because of IRL life, but I will warn you before.
> 
> So you have the choice to either wait for all the chapters here or go to read the first thirteenth ones in another site.
> 
> Also, if you already know my other Pokespe fanfic The Magical Dexholders, well, forget everything about it, this story is radically different! Sorry, but even if I love to write parodical and comic fanfics, I also really have a soft heart for Action and Angst so...
> 
> Unlike The Magical Dexholders, this fanfic is beta-read by Hilda from the Pokespe Amino, so thanks to her to correct all my non-native spell and grammar mistakes!
> 
> This was a long introduction, wasn't it? Anyway, let's enjoy this chapter!

It was a stormy day in Kalos. After a heatwave period, the inhabitants could not get out of their houses because of all the rain and thunder. With this kind of weather, you could believe that Tornadus, Thundurus and Landorus had moved from Unova to Kalos. The inhabitants of the region have started to prepare themselves for what could happen if that were to occur: the fractured foundations, the fallen trees, the damaged roads... They were ready, or at least tried to be ready.

In Vaniville Town, X and Y were in the living room of X's house, watching the rain fall from behind the windows while reading books. They knew that the river near the town could sometimes rise suddenly, and they did not want to be swept away by a possible flash flood. So, with their Holo Casters connected to the news channels at all times, they could be aware of what could happen and could know in advance if they needed to higher ground or not. They made sure to take extreme care in being prepared for any possible event.

But at this moment, they could only wait. Even with some books and their Holo Casters to entertain them, they quickly grew bored. When both of them raised their eyes off of their respective books, there were little knowing smiles plastered on their faces. The kind that only the closest friends could have. 

After a short moment, Y asked, "So X, what is your book about?"

"It's about different kinds of evolution stones," he answered, "and yours?"

"It's about the history of Sky Battling, I have to read it for school." she clarified, showing him the cover.

"Is it interesting at least?" he inquired with a yawn.

"Yes, it's a really nice book!" she said enthusiastically, "For example, did you know that the first sky trainer..."

The young girl started to deliver a monologue about how amazing this sky trainer was and how their technique was ahead of their time. X listened patiently to the girl’s rant, only stopping her when he needed elaboration on some technical terms. He listened closely and attentively to every word she said, because she was his friend, and a friend was always ready to listen about the passions of their friends.

Suddenly, Y was interrupted by a breaking news alert on the Holo Caster. They both turned and listened of the presenter, one who had replaced Malva after the terrible events of three years prior.

"Here is Jean Bonbeure for the Holo Caster news. Alert for the people who live in Lumiose Badlands, an explosion has occurred near the Kalos Power Plant. To those who live near the Power Plant, please take caution and stay in your homes. Reports say that the explosion has caused numerous blackouts, mostly in the Lumiose City area. I will now cut to journalist Marie Onette, who is currently at the scene."

"Hello, Jean, Marie from the Lumiose Badlands here! The explosion happened an hour ago, near the Power Plant. However, the Power Plant was not the origin of it and is as far as we know, unaffected by it. The cause of this event is still yet unknown, as there is nothing in the immediate area of where the explosion took place. The main priority at the moment is to secure the scene before starting investigation, although we did manage to obtain video footage of the explosion from a security camera at the Power Plant."

The video was played on the Holo Caster. At the beginning, they could only see the typical landscape of the Badlands. But, not even a few seconds later, an incredible explosion suddenly obliterated the land around it, causing some interference with the camera. The journalists left the video footage to continue rolling even after the explosion had already happened. So that all could bear witness to the sheer power it possessed, and the devastation it had caused to the surrounding environment.

At the end of the video, X frowned. Was it just him? Or did he see something just now...

"Hey... I hope this won't cause to much trouble in the region." sighed Y.

"Sorry, but can I see the video again?" asked X. "I need to check something."

Without waiting for a reply he replayed the video, and proceeded to do it again after the end of the first replay. He paused at the end of the second replay. "Y, do you see that?" asked the boy.

"See what, where?" she inquired confusedly.

"Right here in the corner, I think I see two figures running away." he clarified pointing to a spot on the video.

"Wait...Ah! I see now! But who are they? Do you think they work for the Power Plant?" Y questioned, staring at the shadowy figures.

"I doubt it, they were all inside because of the storm. Not only that, the figures appeared too quickly after the explosion, they could not have had enough to run out and see what had happened. No, they don't work for the Power Plant." X replied, eyes slightly narrowed at the corner of the screen.

"You think that they might have something to do with the explosion?" Y asked, turning to him.

"Probably, there is nothing around where the explosion took place, and these two figures appeared just after it took place. It also looks to me like they are running away. The questions are: Who are they, and what do they have to do with this? But no matter how they are involved In this, this isn't just any regular explosion, and I have a bad feeling about it." X responded, a deep frown on his face.

"You’re worried about what will happen next right? I also want to know more about this, so let's investigate it together!" Y said with resolve.

"Are you sure you about this?" X asked, raising a brow in uncertainty at her words.

"Sure! As I said, I want to know more about it, and you know that I don't really trust the police anymore, so if you want to figure this out, I'll help you!" Y replied determinedly.

"Thank you, Y. I do wanna get to the bottom of this. But we can't travel yet, not in this weather at least. So while we wait for the rain to clear up, let's pack some stuff we will need for the trip." X said, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Sure! I can't wait for it!" She said excitedly over the prospect of a new adventure.

During the next few hours, the two teenagers prepared their bags, and when the weather had finally cleared two days after, they left Vaniville Town.

This journey’s beginning was much more calmer than the beginning of their first one, when they were with Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor. But they still did not know that this journey would bring them into one of the most complicated situations the world would ever know. Where the appearance did not reflect the reality, and where trust is not so easy to find. A situation which would not only affect Kalos, but the entire world.

But this is only the beginning of this long and complicated journey. A journey filled with new mysteries and dangers, but also new allies and friends alike.

This is how their story begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little surprise for the end! Like I love to spread useless facts, either about the fic itself, the manga, the places or the games, I have a little fact section at the end of each chapter. So let's start here!
> 
> Fact of the chapter: The names of the two journalists are both French puns. The first one, Jean Bonbeurre, sounds like Jambon-beurre, which is the name of a sandwivh that is really popular in France, while the second name, Marie Onette, sounds like marionette, or puppet.


	2. The Lumiose Badlands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> We're Wednesday already, so here have a new chapter! Hope you'll enjoy it!

It did not take long to make it from Vaniville Town to the Lumiose Badlands, and by the time they left home early in the morning, they were able to arrive at the site of the explosion by mid-afternoon, the trip only taking three hours in total when taking the route through Lumiose City.

The area of where the explosion took place was easy to find; a lot of officers were present and were currently working on the case. It was like the apocalypse had just taken place. A giant hole disfigured the land. The fluorescent tarpaulins of the police were absolutely everywhere. Between the casual officers, some scientists were present, collecting soil samples and observing the crater. Two big trucks with a stylized T on them were a ways off, scientist currently going in and out the back of the trucks.

X asked, "Y, do you know what the T on those trucks mean?"

"Of course! It's the research foundation Testsuch. Their foundation is adept in every field of science, like medicine, technology, genetics, and biology. They are really discreet, but I know they sponsored a lot of stuff, like some Sky Trainer Competitions. I've also heard they have state of the art equipment for stuff like this as well, the police probably asked them for help.”

"I see... Is it a Kalos foundation?"

"No, I think they come from Johto or Kanto, I can't really remember at the moment. But they have chains in all regions and I know they also have connections with the Berlitz Corporation."

"The Berlitz... The extremely rich family from Sinnoh, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Excuse me," interrupted an officer. "But you're not allowed to be here."

Alas, they were only two fifteen year olds. So logically they shouldn't be in a place like this.

"Excuse us, sir." Y said quickly. "We were just traveling between Lumiose City and Coumarine City, when we saw all the commotion." 

"I see, and I believe you should leave. You do not have authorization to be here." He replied strictly.

Y gave X an apologetic look. If they wanted to know more, they would have to leave now and come back after dark. 

With a little sigh, Y was about to tell X when they suddenly heard someone said, "Y! X! It's you! What are you doing here?"

The two Kalos' Pokédex holders turned around. The Lumiose City Gym Leader Clemont was behind them, in his usual working attire.

"Clemont!" greeted Y. "Long time no see! What's up?"

"This explosion has affected Lumiose City tremendously. So I came here to offer my assistance with anything that may need repairing, and you?"

"We were traveling to Coumarine City, and we saw all of this going on." Y replied, continuing her lie after noticing that the officer was still near them. "So this is where the explosion occurred huh? Do you guys know what happened?"

"We still don't exactly know, it's a really strange case. But maybe you can help us with it, if it's no trouble to you of course." proposed the Gym Leader.

"Mister Clemont! I'm not that sure we can..." started the officer.

"Everything is okay! These two are some of the ones who saved the region three years ago, they are trustworthy."

"Maybe, but we can't obtain authorization for them!"

"If I stay with them, it should be alright." Clemont assured the officer.

"Mister Clemont, we can't do it!"

"If your superiors have a problem with it, then tell them to talk with me. But we are going."

And without waiting, the Gym Leader left the officer, with X and Y in tow. After passing under some yellow police lines, they could finally see the disaster. The holes’ sizes was impressive, in a horrifying sort of way. Some parts of it were still hot to the touch and had wisps of smoke come up from the crater. Strangely, there were bits and pieces of odd materials scattered around the bottom of it. All of the officers, scientists, police Pokémon, firemen, and numerous Testsuch workers gathered in a small, newly set up building near it. The entire scene looked supernatural.

But the worst part of it all was the blood.

At the first glance, everything was clean. But some places had a darker red coloring too them from where they were protected by the rain. Patches of muddy crimson adorned the craters’ sides and parts of the space around it. Knowing first hand that nothing was supposed to be there, only made the situation more disturbing.

Everything was off, as if this thing took place in another world or another time.

Yvonne finally asked Clemont, "Wasn't there supposed to be nothing here?"

"Indeed. Unfortunately, we still have no clue as to what was here and who are the people who died." he answered, sadness lacing his tone.

"Wait, people died?" Y said in shock.

"Yes, we still don't know exactly how many. When I arrived, the scientists of Testsuch had already evacuated the corpses."

"And where did they bring them?" Y asked him, sick with an underlying sense of dread.

"Most likely to their labs in Lumiose and Shalour Cities."

"Who arrived first?" X asked suddenly, "Was it the police or these Testsuch guys?"

"I don't know, I arrived only yesterday. I had some things to attend to in Lumiose before I could come out here. I'm sorry I can't be of much help with answering your questions, you two." Clemont apologized, rubbing the back of his head in a nervous tick of regret.

"No problem!" Y assured him quickly, "I hope they will be able to help investigate this tragedy with their state of the art technology."

"Yes, me too." added Clemont with an exhausted sigh.

"Wait," X said suddenly, "Why did you want us to come with you?"

"Because this entire situation feels off too me. I have never heard of anything like this before, and well, I-"

"You wanted to have our opinion on it" finished X.

"Yes...It's probably only me but..." Clemont trailed off.

"I agree with you, something is off with this explosion, and I also want to know what it is." sighed the male Dexholder.

"And I agree with X." added Y. "And if he gets in trouble because of it, I want to be with him."

"Just be honest please, you weren't traveling to Coumarine City, right? You came here for the explosion."

"Yeah ," smiled the girl, "But a lot of people are already investigating and I can't see how we can help..."

"We have investigated here, but maybe you can search in another place? Maybe you can get information from Testsuch." proposed the Gym Leader.

"I'm not sure they'll give it to us that easily..." sighed the flying trainer.

"If you say that you're coming on the request of the Lumiose Gym Leader Clemont, I'm sure they would!" Clemont replied with a smile.

"You would do that for us, Clemont?" Y said hopefully.

"Of course! Between all the people I know, I believe you guys are the best ones to get too the bottom of this!"

"Thank you so much!" Y said, now grinning.

"I guess it makes no sense to stay here anymore, so where can we get this information?" asked X.

"Testsuch has three big labs in Kalos, one in Lumiose City, another in Shalour City, and the last one in Coumarine City. Considering that Lumiose was affected by the explosion, my best guess is that they'll use Coumarine's." Clemont answered.

"So we have our next destination! Alright X, let's go!" Y declared in resolve.

"Leaving so soon?" Clemont asked in surprise.

"We have to find a hotel before nightfall. Not to mention that we still have two more hours to walk!" She said, turning around.

"Wait," Clemont said quickly, "You can sleep on your Rhyhorn, right?"

"NO!" Y cried immediately, whipping around to face him in horror.

Her face had changed. Her breathing had become quicker, her eyes seemed to look at something else. Anger and sadness laced her expression like a mask. The gym leader was surprised. Why did she react like that? __

X sighed, as if he was used to it. He said to Clemont, "She can't trust a Rhyhorn on the road anymore..."

"What happened?" Clemont asked in concern.

"We don't have time for that." Y asserted, uncomfortable. "X, let's go."

And she left, without another word.

"It's a bit personal," X said, watching her go, "We will contact you if we find anything Clemont."

"Alright, I wish you both the best of luck!" called the gym leader to the two retreating Dex-Holders.

And so the two friends disappeared from the Badlands, heading onward toward Shalour City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: Do you know that Kalos if the only region where every route has alternate names? It is why everybody in this chapter calls the route 13 the Lumiose Badlands.
> 
> See you Saturday for the next chapter!


	3. Shalour City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> It's Saturday, so here have the chapter of the day! Maybe not funny, but I almost forgot that I had to post it, as I spent my whole day in London; and when I came back I was starting to work on something else before I remembered- Anyway, going to do shopping on London during sales period was maybe not the clever idea I ever had, there were so many people!
> 
> Also, I re-read the first chapters and uh, I wrote them more than a year ago, and they are so small and the style is really different from the last ones I wrote- I may re-write them one day, with more description and all, if I find the time. But be aware that after the fifth chapter, the chapters will become (hopefully) way longer.
> 
> Anyway, hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

"X! Wake up!"

The boy went deeper under his cover, moaning about how annoying his friend was in the morning. They arrived at Coumarine City late the day before, and as the bigger hotels were full, it took one hour to find a room in a shabby hotel. They immediately slept when they arrived, but the girl needed less sleep. After a flight training, she saw that it was already nine am, she decided to wake up her friend, who was still sleeping.

"It's early!"

"It's already nine AM! Wake up, X!"

"It's too early!"

"We have to go to the lab! Hurry up!"

"I don't want to leave my bed!"

"Don't restart your loner period, you idiot !"

"Let me sleep!"

"No! Come on!

"I don't want to!"

"But you have to!"

They continued to argue for a few minutes until the girl won it. X finally left his bed with a tired, annoyed look at his friend.  _ Why did she do that? _ X asked to himself, even though he already knew the answer.

"Eat your breakfast quickly, the lab is far from here and they probably closes at midday. We should arrive before it closes."

* * *

"What... What is this thing ?" X asked skeptically, looking at the thing that was supposed to be breakfast.

"This is the only hotel who accepted us yesterday evening, what else did you expect?"

"I didn't expect a lot of things, but... Can we eat in another place?”

"We don't have time, you woke up too late!"

With a long, annoyed sigh, the boy ate the thing. He definitely wouldn't call that thing food. He felt like he was eating a Ditto. It was weird. That's why he, and Y were surprised when someone said:

"It's good!"

Both Kalosians turned. At a table near to the only window of the lunchroom, another duo was eating. They wore some spring clothes which covered all their arms and legs. Their clothes were surprising, because of the weather of this month, which is June. One of them even had gloves. Hats hid both of their hair and faces. According to their voices, they were a boy and a girl, who probably came from another region, and not from Kalos,, as their accents were quite different. 

Y looked at them and asked, surprised:

"You find this thing good?"

The two people noticed the other duo and looked embarrassed. 

The boy said, with an amused smile, "Yes, it's kinda weird, but we both already eat some way more disgusting food so..."

"I see... You are tourists, right? Don't think that all Kalos’ culinary are like these, because it's not. If you're still here this night, I'll get you some real Kalos food."

"We know," said the girl. "And thank you very much for your offer. But we are not really tourists and sadly, we plan to leave the city today."

"I see, what a shame! By the way, I'm Y, and you are?"

"Ah... We... We are..." started the girl, looking a bit confused.

"My name is Ama, and her name is Toki. Nice to meet you, Y!" interrupted the boy. "So, what are you doing here?"

"We have to visit someone in this city, but we only planned to yesterday, and it was too late to find another hotel. And you?"

"We don't have enough money, so we went to the least expensive hotel we can find."

"You don't have money? Did someone steal it?"

"Not really but..." Toki trailed off, with a sad voice.

"Y, I’m done." X interrupted. "And like you said, if we don't want to be late, we have to go now."

"Oh yes. Goodbye, Ama, Toki! It was nice to meet you!"

"Goodbye, Y!"

* * *

The two Pokédex holders left the hotel without any regrets, and after having trouble with the bus connection, they finally arrived at their destination.

The Testsuch's laboratory in Shalour City was outside of the old city, and if a little panel wasn't in it, it would be impossible to distinguish it between the other buildings. They expected to see a modern building, because of the laboratory, they could only see a big but simple brown concrete building, which probably had been there for fifty or forty years. The automatic door was covered with flyers that explained the foundation’s actions. The windows that pierced the walls were dark and gloomy. It was not welcoming, it was a building where nobody wanted to go, and when they entered it, the duo was not confident.

The hall was also disappointing for scientists and a modern foundation, especially for a Testsuch one. It looked like a doctor’s office, with beige and green colors. Just after the door, a security guard was looking at them, suspiciously. At a corner, an old woman looked annoyed at her desk. In front of her, a few chairs were waiting for some people. The rest, the more interesting parts of the laboratory, were behind the three green doors that pierced the walls.

The old secretary looked at the duo with an annoyed look, "Yes, what is it?"

"Good morning, miss," started Y. "We came here because of the Lumiose Gym Leader, Clemont, told us about the explosion in the Lumiose Badlands..."

"Do you have an appointment with someone here?"

"No, but..."

"You have nothing to do here. Go out."

"But..."

"Out, now."

"But..."

"Excuse me," asked the security guard, "you're here for the explosion?"

"Yes," answered Y "Why?"

"Can you follow me, please? I have some questions for you."

"Wait, what?"

Before they could say anything else, the man brought them in a little room. With a severe look, he asked, "Why are you interested by with this explosion?"

"We were traveling to Coumarine City when we met our friend, the Lumiose Gym Leader, Clemont on the explosion place, and he asked us to see the informations your lab has. Why ?" said Y.

"Aren't you the culprits?"

"Why are you saying that? Why would we do that?" 

"Where were you when it happened?"

"We were at my home in Vaniville Town," answered X. "We learned about it from our Holo Caster. Why do you think that we are the culprits?"

"I'm the one who asks questions here. Can you prove that you were in your home?"

"We don't have the evidence yet. What is the problem with us?"

"I’ll call my boss. Stay here for a moment."

Without any more explanation, the man left the room. Five minutes later, he reappeared, with a woman. She was probably around thirty years old. She looked strict, with her bun, her white blouse and her black skirt. She observed the duo with suspicion, before declaring, "It's not them."

"You are sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, you idiot."

"But the culprits are a young boy and a girl, right?"

"Yes, but it's not them. The woman we are looking for is older and the boy has blond hair."

"Maybe he used a wig or colored his hair?"

"Believe me, it's not them."

"Excuse me," interrupted Y "But what are you talking about?"

"This idiot believed that you are the culprits of the explosion in the Lumiose Badlands, excuse him." Said the woman. "I'm Katell, the development supervisor of the lab, and this is Titouan, the security supervisor. I'm sorry for this mistake, he apparently didn't look at the pictures of the culprits enough."

"So it was a criminal explosion, right? And you already know who the culprits are?" Asked X.

"Yes we know," sighed Katell. "But..."

She couldn't finish her sentence. A scientist burst into the room, out-of-breath. He tried to say something, but it was inaudible. 

Titouan said, "Hey, calm down, calm down! Yes, like this." He breathed in and out.

The scientist's breathing became stable. "So, what happened?"

"It's... It's terrible !"

"What’s terrible?" asked Katell.

"The duo of the Lumiose Badlands, the ones who caused the explosion... They attacked us!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: Titouan and Katell are two OCs I created for another fandom, Hetalia, more than two years ago, and as I don't currently have a real use of them as I have left the Hetalia fandom more than a year ago and because I find it funny, I included them in the story. To summarize, they are, in their original backstory, both coming from Britanny, a region in the North-West of France (take a map of France, find the huge peninsula/nose on the left side, and you have Brittany), so we can say that they are somehow Kalosian I guess- Titouan is a member of the French navy who looks nice and gentle but can be strict and really serious and who is also a miser, and Katell is a serious magician who loves cooking and who have a problem with the concept of authority. And they literally can't see each other without fighting. This is complicated, because Katell is technically, even in their original background, Titouan's boss. By the way, Katell uses to call Titouan penn-boultouz and barriken didalet, which respectively mean, in Breton language (a regional language of Brittany, yes there is some regional languages in France) "Monkfish head" and "Battered barrel".
> 
> See you Wednesday for the ones that will wait for the update, and see you next chapter for the ones that read this chapter after the update was done!


	4. The Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> It's Wednesday already, so here have the fourth chapter! Hope you'll enjoy it!

_ "Hey, calm down, calm down! Yes, like this." Titouan breathed in and out  _

_ The scientist's breathing became stable. "So, what happened?" _

_ "It's... It's terrible!" _

_ "What’s terrible?" asked Katell. _

_ "The duo of the Lumiose Badlands, the ones who caused the explosion... They attacked us!" _

* * *

The time seems to have suspended. None of them dared to breathe. The laboratory was attacked? Nobody wanted to believe it. The silence was oppressive. This heavy atmosphere was only broken when a strange crackling was heard, and the light turned off.

Immediately, Y called out her Fletchinder. The little flame Fletchinder produced was enough to light up the room.

X asked, "Do you know why they attacked you?"

"You seriously think we do?" answered Titouan. "Of course we don't."

"Maybe they want to destroy some proofs of the explosion," added Katell. "In any case, we can't let them destroy the lab. Titouan, go stop them!"

"Why have you to be so strict, you idiot?"

But the man executed the order and left the room. After a little look at each other, X and Y followed him, but they were interrupted by Katell.

"What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" answered Y. "We can't let these people attack the lab without at least trying to stop them!"

"It doesn't concern you, it concerns the lab! You don't have to get involved in it!"

"And what if we don’t? These two people, they are the ones who caused the explosion in the Badlands, and now they attacked this lab? They’re dangerous! What if someone gets injured? Some people already died! We have to stop them," replied the flying trainer.

"But you are not concerned by this case, right?"

"We are if we decide we are, and we decided to be involved."

"Seriously, why do I have to reason with this kind of teens? They are too annoying," groaned the manager. "Do what you want, but don't blame me if you get into some sort of trouble!"

"Don’t worry, we won’t!" answered Y, who was already leaving the room with her friend.

* * *

Outside, it was chaos. Everybody was running. The green lights of the emergency doors and some Fire and Electric-type Pokémons were the only things that lighted the hallways and they also projected some gloomy shadows on the walls. The scientists fled with some of their research. Some explosion sounds were occasionally heard.

In this chaos, it was difficult for the duo to go further. In this building, they did not know where to go, because the hallways all looked the same. In the empty laboratory, deserted by the scientists, they got lost. The time passed a lot, but they had no idea of where the attackers could be, and they felt powerless. 

This was frustrating, and after opening yet another door without anything but laboratory-related things, X said, "Y, wouldn't it be easier if we just go outside? Maybe we can see where these people are, especially if you fly."

"I don't have enough time to prepare my suit. Maybe you can see with Salamè while I look for them with Croaky ?"

"It's probably the best thing to do. But if you see them, please be careful."

"I'm the one who’s supposed to say that!"

They opened the windows, looking under them. They didn’t realize it that until now, but they had gone to the third floor. Y called her Greninja, while X called out his Charizard, and then they split up.

If at the inside, it was all panic, at the outside, it was abnormally empty and silent, from the sky, and X was the first spectator of this strange sight. While it was midday, when people get out of work to eat, nobody was in the too wide streets. But when he looked to the windows, the boy could see the worried people who were scared but who couldn't stop to look what happened, even if the situation did not progress a lot since the beginning. It looked like everything had frozen. Even the police, who surrounded the building, was waiting for the terrorists to appear, an order, or something that can make them make their move. It was one of the strangest things he ever saw in his life. When he fought the Team Flare with Y and his friends, three years ago, it was a secret war, the population was not present during the battle, they weren't afraid, the people involved in the battle were not frozen in an unbearable waiting which took hours. And at this moment, he knew. He realized that including civilians like that in an attack when they could do nothing except waiting for the best or the worst, and fearing their lives, was cowardly, and unbearable. At this moment, he knew that he cannot forgive this terrorist. He knew that he had to stop them.

* * *

On the ground, he could see Y. The young girl was looking around, helped by her Croaky. It was ironic, how he was the one which was looking for the terrorists from the sky when Y was the Sky Trainer. He knew she would be better at this role than him, but they did not have the choice. In this attack, each second was important, and they couldn't wait. Putting the flying suit on was too long, and they could not lose any precious time.

These people were dangerous, and if they let them escape, who knew what else they could do after that? They had to catch them as quick as possible.

At this moment, behind all the policemen, in a little street not far from the laboratory, the boy suddenly noticed a change happening.

From the ground, the spectacle was different. It was empty too, but the ambience was more stifling and scary. Y missed this detachment she could had when she flew. From the sky, you could see and analyze everything. On the ground, your field of view was limited, and you could easily miss something, and the girl was afraid to not see something important. She definitely preferred to be in the sky, but she knew she had not enough time for preparing her flying suit. She noted so that the next time something like that would happen, she should have her flying suit ready.

Suddenly, Croaky took her arm, while showing with his head the Charizard who flew not far from them. Her friend was showing something, and, lost in her thoughts, she did not notice it before her Pokémon showed her. He was speaking too, but she couldn't hear him. Her Greninja looked at her. She could see that he wanted to take a look at what the other Kalos' Dexholder was showing. She could not let them wait any longer, and she tried to find a way to the thing which caught X's attention. And, when she finally arrived near to the indicated spot, on the corner of a street, she bumped into someone.

The other person fell on the ground. There were also three other people, whose appearances were hidden by the clothes they wore, which were too hot for the weather. And at this moment, Y frowned. She knew the person she bumped into. She also knew one out of the three others, who were helping their fallen companion get up. She met them, a short time ago. And now, she found them during this attack, in the place when they should not be. 

She had a bad feeling about it, and even if somehow, she already knew the answer, she asked, "You... You are Ama and Toki, from the hotel, right? What... What are you doing here ?"

"Well..." started the one called Toki, the one she bumped into.

"They are here!" said a voice, a security guard of Testsuch. "Catch them, quick!"

She sighed. Can it be that they are the two people, who were in one of the worst hotels of the city, who wore clothes that are too hot for the season and also hides their face, who planned to leave the city, are also two of the terrorists? But she could not understand why. Why did they attack the laboratory? Why did they put innocent people in danger? They looked nice when she met them, why were they doing that? She wanted to understand what things could make people do that. 

When the four attackers tried to ran away, she got in their way, and cried, "Don't move!"

Behind her, she could feel a heat, and she knew that X and Salamè landed. The one who was named Ama moaned, "We don't have time for that. They are after us, we have to run!"

"We don't want to hurt you, so let us go please," said one of the two other people, which was a man.

"We can't," answered X.

"In that case..." sighed the man resignedly. "Lucario, Aura Sphere !"

A Lucario suddenly walked out from behind the man and launched the attack. But, the two Kalosian Pokedex Holders were surprised when the target was not them or their Pokémon, but the ground. A dust cloud rose and blinded X and Y. X swore. He could hear them running. They were escaping. He could not let it happen.

"Salamè, used your Wing Attack to disperse the dust cloud!"

The Charizard obeyed, and a short time later the cloud was only a memory. But it was too late. The four terrorists were already nowhere to be seen. But as fast as they could be, they would not be so fast enough to run far away, and with the help of Salamè, he went after them. He quickly found them. They were in the historical town, near to the Tower of Mastery, and they already ran away from the laboratory. Apparently, the police did not follow them. 

He landed in front of them, and said to them, "Stop here! We can't let you continue to run away and if possible, we don't want to fight."

"Unfortunately for you," answered the one who, if he remembered right, was Ama. "We can't stop just because you asked us to."

"In that case, I suppose we don't have much possibilities other than a Pokémon battle. Salamé!"

The Loner touched his keystone, and after a flash of bright light, Salamé was a Mega Charizard X in front of the four people. Ama swore and whispered to his companions, and the only thing that the Dexholder could hear was that they did not have the time for a Pokémon battle and that they had to leave the city as soon as possible. He could not let them leave so easily. 

"Salamé, Incinerate!"

"Lucario, Aura-sphere!" The same man before cried at the same time.

They tried the same strategy that one a few minutes ago. Unfortunately for them, they lost the surprise effect. After a Wing Attack by the black dragon Pokémon, the dust cloud disappeared, and the four terrorists were just running in front of him in plain view. If everything goes well, he could catch them easily. 

After a short while, as he suddenly had difficulty to act properly, he said, "Salamé, use Incinerate, again."

But the Mega Charizard X did not react and fell on the ground. With slow movements, which were slowing down because of the sudden tiredness that invaded him, X looked behind him. While Salamé used his Wing Attack to remove the cloud, a Butterfree flew behind them and used Sleep Powder. He did not notice it, because he was concentrating on catching the terrorists, and it was too late. His Pokémon was already sleeping, and judging by how tired he felt, he knew that he would soon be asleep too. And he could not stop them... It was terribly frustrating.

While he closed his eyes, he also could not move his body anymore, he heard one of the attackers who stopped and said, with a voice that seems to be amazed, "This Tower... I don't know why, but it looks really familiar to me..."

If he was not affected by the Sleeping Powder, the Loner would have gasp with surprise. Instead of that, he only could feel shocked, as he remembered the owner of this voice.

"The Tower of Mastery? Maybe, it is really famous because of Lucario's owner, you might have visited it before," answered the man who had a Lucario. "But we can speak of that later. For the moment, let's run."

"Sure!"

The four terrorists escaped. But X did not think any more of how he failed to stop them. While falling asleep, the memory of this person came back to him.

He met this person three and a half years ago, while fighting Team Flare. This person, for whom he had a lot of respect. 

And when he could not fight the tiredness off anymore and while he finally became unconscious, the face of this person appeared in his memories. This person, with whom he had fought. This person, who had been injured, because of him.

This person, who died of her injuries, three years ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: Although Shalour Sable is technically a local speciality from Shalour City, you can't actually find it in Kalos. Maybe the export worked so well that they ran out of stock locally during XY games? Who knows~ 
> 
> Do we see that I did not had a lot of idea for this fact? We totally see it actually, right?
> 
> Anyway, see you Saturday!


	5. Next Action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> Here we go for the chapter of the day! Yes, a little bit earlier, but as I am going to be busy all Saturday, I prefer to post it with a little bit of advance.
> 
> This one is a bit special. In fact, for this fanfic, I may have made a few changes in the canon, and this chapter is the first one where we are able to see one of them. Nothing big though, and the adventures our favorite Dexholders lived stay exactly the same. But some details change, and you'll get to see it by now.
> 
> Anyway, hope you will enjoy this chapter!

The Tower of Mastery was this kind of building which made you feel terribly little, and to be burdened with something which was way more bigger than you. By looking at this majestic building, you could feel the history, the responsibility, and how you were insignificant in this world. And it was not only the Tower. Even the sea, which circled the building, reminded you of how you were just a microscopic part of the universe.

X was intimidated by the Tower, and the big doors, still closed, in front of him. This uncomfortable feeling did not leave him, since he realized that he had to go at this place, a short time after waking up. He swallowed. He wanted to run away. He knew this feeling was normal, notably because of the reason of his coming. Mainly because of it. But because of that, he could not give up and leave, not when he was in front of him, in front of this majestic building that was too big for the old man who lived in it. He had to finish this unpleasant and uncomfortable task.

The warm hand of Yvonne gripped his right shoulder. His childhood friend was next to him, with a smile which reassured him. She knew that he did not like what he had to do, and she was with him, to support him. It was also a reason why he could not give up and did it later or never. He deceived her so many times before, but he could not do it once again. Not after failing to catch the attackers of the laboratory, the day before. But it was hard to do it, to advance and enter in the building. And with only a few words, she eliminated his last hesitations.

“Let's go, X."

"Yes."

* * *

_ "X! X! Wake up!" _

_ The Kalosian boy partially opened his eyes, and closed them immediately. Too much light, too much noise... He just wanted to stay in this comfortable state which was called sleeping. He just wanted to stay a little longer all alone under the warm duvet. _

_ "X! I know you are awake. Come on!" _

_ "Wait, Miss, your friend..." _

_ "He’s not going to melt! X, come on, open your eyes!" _

_ He opened his eyes, slowly, and step by step. The blurred world in front of him became, after a short time which looked like hours, sharp, and he could see the faces of his childhood friend with Katell and another person he did not know, a bald man with big glasses and a surprisingly and strange leafy mustache. This last one immediately moved the two women and started to examine him, his breath, his eyes. After all this tests, he finally said that everything was good, and that he would not have after effects of the attack.  _

_ Confused by all this happening, X asked his friend, "What happened? What is the problem?" _

_ "You don't remember?" smiled Y, with a mix of annoyance and relief. "You followed the four terrorists, and one of them attacked you with a Sleeping Powder attack. We could’ve found you right away, but it was too late, and they already disappeared. You slept the whole afternoon, but apparently you are okay. Just don't do this anymore and put yourself in danger like that, okay?"  _

_ And at this moment, he remembered everything. He remembered the attack, which happened a few hours ago. He remembered that he followed them, and how he could not stop them. He remembered of what he discovered, how he saw this person, before the effects of the Sleeping Powder made him fall asleep. And if what he discovered was true... He had to stop the terrorists, no matter what way, no matter how many times it would take, no matter how many places he had to follow them. He had to find them, arrest them, and discover how this person, who he thought was dead for the last three years, was still alive, and how they get involved in that.  _

_ With a hesitant, but terribly serious look, he answered his friend, "Y, I... Before I fell asleep, I saw something..." _

* * *

If the outside was already impressive, inside, the atmosphere was heavy. After their destruction, three and half years ago, during the events with the Team Flame, the city and the Elite Four, with Diantha, decided to rebuild it, because of the history of the Tower, and the link they had with the secret of Mega Evolution and a certain Pokémon. And in less than two years, they did. The new Tower was similar to the one before, with the same architecture, the same materials, and the visitors were still watched by the strict look of a perfect replica of the Lucario statue. 

X and Y never came to this Tower before its destruction, but they heard about it, they’ve heard Diantha and Green speaking about it, they’ve heard about how it was welcoming and full of life before. But now, the building was terribly cold, and looked empty of life. This building was originally the symbol of the secret of the Mega-Evolution, and the place where the mentor and his disciples could learn and pass down this secret. But nobody could, at this moment, tell the goal of this Towers. All the disciples left, and lived their own lives. The guardian of the Mega-Evolution was still here, but for how long?

It was with this thought that Y entered in the Tower of Mastery, along with X. The Tower was terribly empty, and she actually hated it. Inside it, the only permanent resident of the building, and his room, under the Lucario's statue, looked terribly little. But while the old man came closer to them, she realized that it was not only because of the Tower's atmosphere, as she saw how he became older since the last time she saw him. The wrinkles grew wider on his face, he became stooped, and he needed the help of a stick to walk. 

Yes, the Tower was not anymore like it was in the memories of Diantha and Green, and so did Gurkinn. Even if they could rebuild the places, Team Flare affected too much of their lives, and they changed everything.

Yes, at this moment, Y felt anger against their old enemies, because of what they did to this building, to the Mega-Evolution guru. Nothing was like before, and it would never be the same.

Yes, since Korrina died of her injuries three years ago, nothing was like before.

* * *

_ Three years ago, March 31, Laverre City Hospital _

_ "How is Korrina?" asked Viola to her colleague Grant, while entering the hall of the hospital. _

_ "Apparently, nothing really changed since last time, according to what Clemont said. She is still in a coma, and haven’t woke up." _

_ It became a tradition, since the defeat of the Team Flare, to visit their colleague Korrina, still comatose, everyday. Oh sure, all of them did not visited her everyday, they also had to do their jobs, but they managed to always have at least one gym leader who came per day, and to individually see her at least once a week. Valerie came even everyday, because the hospital was in her city. They hoped that, maybe, someway, if they came every day, and speak to her, about how Kalos won against Lysandre, about this daily and peaceful activities of a Gym Leader, about how they missed her, she would wake up quicker. _

_ But with as time passed, they finally did not only came for her. _

_ They also came to support her grandfather. _

_ After the defeat of Team Flare, he could stop his role of the Mega-Evolution guru, and could be the grandfather he was, a grandfather who was worried for his granddaughter who would not wake up. Since then, he stayed at the hospital all the day, and left only when the night came and the visits ended. During the battle, when the situation needed him and his knowledge, he was strong, and was able to help everybody. But the peace came back, and the Gym Leaders discovered another face to him, a more delicate one, one who loved his granddaughter, the only family he still had. And, step by step, the Gym Leaders felt the need to support and take care of him. Until Korrina wake up, they would do it, for her. _

_ Her Lucario also refused to left her side. The rumors that said that a Lucario was one of the most loyal Pokémon was true, was terribly true in that case. The Pokémon stayed with his trainer, always taking care of her, always using his aura around her. The nurses were obligated to make him drink, eat and sleep. Without them, he would not do it by himself, and would be slowly dying by exhaustion. Sometimes, Viola asked to herself how far could go a relationship between a trainer and their Pokémon go, and Lucario was the perfect example that Pokémon were not simply some monsters which could be stored in a ball, but something way more bigger, and still unexplored.  _

_ It was Viola’s thoughts, during this early morning. How Korrina's comatose state affected her only family, and her Pokémon. And she prayed, she prayed for a better and peaceful future, she prayed for her friend to be conscious. _

_ Unfortunately, things did not going in the way she wanted. And when she heard Gurkinn's cry which resonated in the whole hospital, she already knew what was the problem. While she was running to the Shalour City's Gym Leader's bedroom with Grant, she still had a little glimmer of hope. _

_ But when she arrived at the right room, when she saw the Mega-Evolution guru on his knees and crying, when she saw the sad look of the doctor and from Valerie, who arrived before them, she had to accept the truth. _

_ Korrina died, during the night.  _

_ She succumbed to her injuries, after fighting for her life for some months. According to the doctor, she did not suffer. She left the world peacefully. _

_ But Viola did not care about that. Behind her, Korrina had left only pain. She had left her old grandfather, the last one of their family, all alone, and he would suffer every days until he would die. She had left an incomplete group of Gym Leader, a group which would no more be complete, a group which would never be the same, without her. She had left so many people. After this moment, Viola knew, that it would never be as before. Too much change. Too much pain. Too much tears. _

_ As a cruel symbol of this change, after the death of Korrina, Lucario was nowhere to be seen. _

* * *

"Come on, enter," smiled the old man, while struggling to open the heavy green door which went to his room for a moment before the door finally opened.

The two Kalosian Dexholders entered the little room. It was a humble room. Some old bookcases which were full of books and photo album about Pokémons were lining the length of the bare walls. Without any windows, the only sources of light were three neon lights, all across the bedroom.The single, brown bed at the bottom was made, and a picture of Korrina was gently smiling to them from the night table. As if it was waiting for some visitors, a table that was too big with a white tablecloth covering it occupied a more than a quarter of the places, with two chairs around it, one which was used, and another which was dusty.

It was like another world, Gurkinn's world, and X and Y felt awkward, without knowing what to do, before the old man tell them, "Sorry, I do not have enough chairs... Wait a moment, I will search for one."

"It is not a problem, we do not plan to stay here a long time, we have to leave the city afterwards. But before doing that, we have to speak to you about something which is really important," started X directly.

"How can an old man like me be useful for you?"

"You heard about the terrorist attack of yesterday against the Testsuch laboratory, right ?"

"Of course I did. I also heard that you are looking for those terrorists, right? It is why you would leave the city soon," sighed the guru. "But are you sure that you want to do it? You already had enough problems with Team Flare three years ago, you already done enough, you don’t have to stop them."

"We are. Because yesterday, I was close to arresting them, and I recognized one of them. Or at least, I believe I recognized her," answered the young boy. "And if I am right, if it is really her, I have to stop them, and to discover why they are doing that."

"What do you mean?" frowned Gurkinn, intrigued.

"I mean that... At this moment..."

He suddenly had difficulty to speak. It was really hard to say. And what if he was wrong? What if it was another person? What if...

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Y was near him, she was with him, and she supports him. He smiled to her, breathed one last time, and let the thoughts go out.

"One of them, the attackers, was Korrina."

* * *

_ "You saw Korrina?" said Y. "But it's impossible! She is dead!" _

_ "I thought too, but... If it is not her, then it was a really look alike doppelganger." _

_ The two friends were at the hospital. The boy confided to the Sky Trainer what he saw during the attack. The former gym leader of Shalour City, a person everybody thought had been dead for the last three years, suddenly reappeared with some terrorists who attacked a laboratory. While explaining it to the blonde girl, X thought that it looked more like the plot of a bad book, movie or video game than the truth. However, he was sure of what he saw. _

_ Well, he was sure until he saw Y reaction. What if he was wrong? What if he was an hallucination? What if the culpability he still had about Korrina's dead made him imagine things which were not true? Maybe it was a person who looked like the deceased skating fangirl. Maybe... _

_ His childhood friend saw the insecurity on his face, as she quickly added, "I don't doubt you, it's just that it's really surprising!" _

_ "Sorry... Maybe I was wrong, after all, with the Sleeping Powder... But her voice, and her face... It was really like her." _

_ "If you say that you recognized her, then I believe you. But the question is why? Why was she declared dead three years ago, if she is still alive? Why did she never came to see someone she knows, like her grandfather? And why did she reappeared in such a situation after such a long time?" _

_ "I think I may have the answer to one of this question." _

_ "What do you mean?" _

_ "Well, she did not react when she saw us. We know her personality, it looked out of character for her to act that way. However, she said that the Tower of Mastery was familiar to her, and one of the men who was with her had to explain to her what it is, and tell that she 'might have visited it before'. It's only a possibility, but maybe..." _

_ "You think she is amnesiac?" interrupted the girl. _

_ "Maybe... It would explain why there was no word about her during the last three years." _

_ "And then, what will you do?" _

_ The question surprised him. He had not thought of that. Yes, Korrina was maybe alive, and then? What would he do? She was right. He have to do something with it. He had too much questions about the situation, and how she was alive, and nobody to answer them. He had to discover what was behind it. With a determined look, he looked at his friend. _

_ "I will follow the terrorists, stop them, and discover the reason for this." _

_ "And will you warn Mr. Gurkinn?" _

_ The embarrassed look of her friend was enough for Y to see that he did not even think of that. She sighed gently. She really had to think of everything.  _

_ She smiled at him, "Then, we should go to the Tower of Mastery and telling Mr. Gurkinn about it, before going to Lumiose City." _

_ " _ _ Why should we go to Lumiose City?" _

_ "First, we have to speak about all this stuff with Clemont. Second, I heard some people from the police and the foundation talking, and according to them, the next target of the terrorists would be the Testsuch's laboratory in Lumiose City. So I’m guessing, that if we want to stop them, our best option is to go there." _

_ "Yes, it is probably the best thing to do." _

* * *

"So, you are saying that my granddaughter, who had been dead for the last three years, is potentially still alive, and maybe amnesiac?" said the old man slowly, with a small, trembling voice.

A few minutes passed between the moment when X finished telling his story and the one when Gurkinn could finally speak. The silence was terribly oppressive. And even after he finally speak, the oppressive feeling did not disappear. After a short look at X, who did not know what to say, Y decided to speak.

"Yes. We are pretty sure she is probably alive. I know it sounds impossible, but..."

"I never saw her corpse," sighed the guru.

"You what?"

"The doctors said that they had to vacate the room for another patient, and that they already gave her corpse to the funeral service. And before I realized, she had been buried."

"So the possibility that she is alive are higher than we thought," smiled the Flying Trainer.

"Yes, maybe," answered the old man, scrutinizing them. "And if she is still alive..."

"We will follow them, and discover the reason behind this," continued Y.

"I am afraid than my state of health will not allow me to come with you."

"It is not a problem," declared X. 

"Leave it to us, we have to do that, after everything you and she had done for us."

"Well, I will not leave you to this matter all by yourselves. I may not be able to fight with you, but I will investigate the hospital. And even if I am retired now, I still have all my network. I will give you help."

"Thank you. If it is not bothering you, we have to leave you now, if we want to arrive at Lumiose City before the night falls."

"Don't apologize about it and just leave already," smiled Gurkinn.

While leaving the room, Y could not stop herself to think that he looked less older than when they arrived. And before they left, he called them.

"Oh, and before you leave..."

"Yes?"

"If it's really her, please..."

They never saw him with such a serious look before.

"Take her back home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: Although Shalour City is based on the touristic French city Saint-Malo, a port in the Northwest French region of Brittany notably famous for their long history in piracy, the Tower of Mastery is actually based on another city/island, the (terribly) touristic Mont-Saint-Michel, more than 56 km away from Saint-Malo, and technically not even in the same region as Mont-Saint-Michel is located in the Normandy region! (Although there is a really long argument between Brittany and Normandy to know in which region is really the Mont-Saint-Michel).
> 
> See you Wednesday for the next chapter!


	6. Lumiose City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> It's Wednesday already, so let's have the sixths chapter!
> 
> I also have a bad news. I am going to leave for abroad for work tomorow without my computer, and will not come back until next Tuesday. Which meant that I will unfortunately not be able to post the seventh chapter Saturday. I am really sorry for the inconvenience!
> 
> Anyway, hope you will enjoy this chapter!

The steep road of the Spikes Passage was like she remembered. Cliffs which hid the sky. Below, the top of the trees. The sun was up in the sky, with only a few clouds. It was a good day.

She swallowed. It was only a bad moment. It was not the first time, and surely not the last. Then, even if she was used to it, she hated it. But apparently, it did not want to leave her.

A sound, on her right. She did not even turn her head. She already knew what it was, no, who it was. The sound of a camera’s flash, the scratching noise of a pen on a paper, the reflections which were said by a curious voice. She bit her lip. She did not even remember of the right tone of his voice. These little details, the time easily erased them. Because everything that appeared one day was destined to disappear.

She mentally counted. It would happen soon, like always, she already knew it. She could only wait and hope that it would not be too long this time. But the time was laughing at her, and the minutes looked like hours. The voice she did not remember anymore was still speaking. She just wanted it to stop, to be the last time she had to revive this. But she knew it was impossible.

Suddenly, it happened. The loud and quick noise of a Pokémon who was running. A voice that cried, "Attention!" Like always, it was useless. The person near to her turned back and was surprised, but could not move quickly. The Pokémon hit them, and, both of them, with the owner of the beast, fell into the bellow forest. She closed her eyes. She did not want to see how it was below, she already knew it. She could not even let a tear go.

__ Why would it never end?

Could she never be ever free of it?

Did she not imagine what happened this day enough, even if she was not here when it really happened?

Did she...

"Y! Wake up!"

The girl suddenly opened her eyes, breathless. She was in a bedroom, in the Prism Tower, and according to the light which came of her window, it was already morning. Near to her, X was looking at her, worried. One look to him was enough to confirm what he thought.

It was that nightmare.

Again.

She sighed. She was, unfortunately, not that surprised. The only thing which upset her was that it happened at this moment. With this attack, and all the stuff about Korrina, she already had to handle a lot of things, and it was not the time to be bothered by the memories of those people. Three years happened since this event, and now, she had to move on and stop thinking about the past, and of this insidious question which often bothered her, this what if, of which could never have an answer.

__ She finally looked at X and asked, with a little smile, "What time is it ?"

"It's eight am. Breakfast is ready if you want."

"Is Clemont already up?"

"Yes, with his sister. They are waiting for us."

"I woke up really late, did I? Just wait a bit, I will be ready in a minute."

"Your nightmare... It was still that one, right? Do you want to speak about it again?"

"You know, like me, that it is not the moment. Now get out, I don't want you to watch me while I get dressed, you pervert!"

X immediately left and went to the futuristic and filled with invention kitchen of their host. Clemont was waiting for him, like his sister, and he answered their silent question with a shrug. Y arrived a few minutes later, dressed.

"Good morning, Y," said Clemont. "How are you? Did you sleep well?"

"Good morning, Clemont, Bonnie! I slept well, and you?" she lied.

"Well, I worked on a new invention, so I did not really sleep."

"Sleeping is important!"

"Yes, but the city is really dependent on the electricity of the Power Plant, and I have to do something if there are still problems with it."

"Overworking is not the best thing to do if you want to succeed."

"I know, but I had a new idea and I absolutely wanted to try it, besides, I could not sleep well, after our discussion from yesterday evening."

When they arrived, the evening before, they had a long discussion, about the events of Shalour City. And the least that can be said, was that the gym leader was surprised, and worried, by the unexpected turn of the events. How could Korrina still be alive? What happened during these three years? Was Team Flare involved in it? They were disbanded after their defeat, but they could never be too careful with these kind of things. And even though months happened since his captivity, Y could see the glint in Clemont's eyes, when he remembered the bad memories of his kidnapping, and she could guess that the reason of his sleepless night was not only this amazing idea he had for a new invention.

With a feeble smile, which did not fool anyone in the kitchen, the Gym Leader asked, "Now that you are at Lumiose City, what are you planning?"

"Well, for today," answered Y, "We are planning to look at the Testsuch lab and identify the surrounding area. If they attacked the lab, it will be useful to know where they can attempt to escape."

"It's a good idea," approved the inventor. "Do you want me to guide you?"

X looked discreetly at Y, and she understood what he was silently saying. The blonde boy was still traumatized by what happened to him during the Team Flare events, it was surely not a good idea to include him in that. 

__ With a gentle smile, she declined, "Thank you for your offer, but we will do it by ourselves, it will be a good occasion for us to visit the city at the same time."

"If you say so... But if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!"

"We will, we will, don't worry."

The rest of the breakfast was silent. Clemont was lost in his thoughts, Bonnie was looking at her oldest brother, worried, X was absorbed with his coffee, and Y was trying to forget her nightmare. She had to concentrate, this was not the moment to think of that. She tried to plan their route. Lumiose City was not a little city, and it was easy to get lost in it. She should be careful with it, if they did not learn about the surrounding area near to the lab, they could get lost like last time. But if this was a difficulty for them, it would be the same with the attackers, so they could use it as an advantage.

But the problem, again, was their difficulty with memorizing the area... 

"What do you think about, Y-Ey?"

"Well, I wonder how we gonna identify the place..." After a few seconds, Y realized who was speaking, and she suddenly jumped, surprised. “Shauna! What are you doing here?"

"We are the ones who should say that! Tierno and I have been living here for the last three years, and when you finally have something to do in the city, you didn't even call us?"

"Sorry for that, Shauna... But how did you learn that..."

"Clemont told us," smiled Tierno, who just arrived at the kitchen. "If you start a new adventure, you should tell us, you know?"

"Sorry, sorry, it just kinda got out of our mind, with everything that happened," apologized the flying Trainer.

"Next time, try to not forget about us, OK? Have you finished your breakfast yet?"

She looked at her breakfast, which was far from finished. But she was not hungry, and with the feeling her nightmare left her, she knew that she would not be able eat all of it. She then looked at X, who already finished, and was looking at her. She sighed, while pushing her bowl away.

"Yes, I guess we are finished."

"You did not eat all of your breakfast."

"I'm not hungry anymore."

"It's not good, Y-ey! It's important to eat your breakfast when you’re still growing and you need energy! And wasting food is definitely bad."

"I know, I know, but..."

"No. We will not leave until you finish your breakfast, Y-ey."

"But..."

"It's not a question. Eat, Y-ey."

A silent argument started between the two childhood friends. After a few minutes, Shauna won, and with an annoyed glare at Shauna, Y finished her breakfast, and the group of friends could finally leave the tower. Lumiose City was as full of life like usual. People were drinking their coffee on the terraces, some went shopping in the ridiculously rich and luxurious shops of the city, and the Lumi Cab and the GoGoat Shuttle were driving them to different places. But instead of taking one of those kinds of transport, the group preferred to walk in the large streets of the city.

"Every time I come, I can't stop myself to think that Lumiose City is ridiculously big." Y laughed slightly.

"Well, I guess that over time, we became used to it," answered Tierno.

"The life here is really different from Vaniville Town, but there is always something to do, so it's pretty nice," added Shauna. "It's just sometimes it’s hard to sleep, because of all the noise."

"Speaking of your life here, how goes your job as a Furfrou stylist?"

"It's really nice, actually. My colleagues are really gentle, and I improved a lot. The boss taught me a lot of things, and I have some regular clients now. But I feel like I’m arriving at an end there, and that it would be only a question of time before I open my own shop. But it's less impressive than what Tierno had done during these three years."

"Well, it's not that impressive..." laughed the boy.

"Are you kidding me? Tierno, you became a star!"

"What do you mean by became a star?" asked Y.

"His street dance group became more popular every day, and a lot of people, both inhabitants, and tourists came to see them. Because of that, some stars became interested in it, and they could dance for very famous stars! Now they are pretty famous, and they gained enough money to create a program for the people on the streets. Tierno really did a good job during these three years," answered Shauna with a smile.

"Well, it is not that impressive, it's just normal."

"Shauna is right, you did amazing work!" exclaimed the Sky Trainer.

"It's really impressive, you should be proud of yourself." added X.

"Well, it's..." started the dancer, embarrassed, before exclaiming, "Ah! Isn't it the Testsuch laboratory here?"

The group was near the hairdresser Coiffure Clips. In the right of the building which welcomed the little shop, just after a little alley, a typical Lumiosian building, in a few tones of warm grey, was taking an important part of the South Boulevard. The name of the foundation was elegantly written with golden letters on the facade. In the fourth floor, a colorful banner made the promotion of the foundation. In comparison with Professor Sycamore's laboratory, which was only fifty meters after, this one looked way more serious. But after all, an international foundation needed to have a good image.

Y's hand unconsciously went to her pocket, and she immediately found the letter Katell gave to them. This piece of paper was the key which will allow them to have the cooperation of the Lumiosian laboratory. Without it, it would be impossible to continue their investigation. But she did not know how to accost them. One error, and they would be over, and they could not let it happen. The question was also, what should they do? Identify the area first, and then come to them, or the opposite? The memories of her nightmare did not help her to think properly. What should they do? What should she do? It was hard to answer those questions, and she remembered their first journey through Kalos, when she used to lead her group of friends. She sighed. Three and a half years ago, they won, and they will succeed again. In this kind of situation, the doubts quickly became chains which immobilized them, and it was not a good thing. She should just follow what she felt would be right. And if her journey taught her one thing, it was that to win, teamwork was necessary. With a smile, she looked at her friends.

"Let's enter in the building and speak to them. We absolutely need their cooperation."

And with these words, the group entered the building.

* * *

"So, how was your day?" asked Clemont.

X and Y finally came back to the Tower, after finally spending the whole day in the streets of Lumiose City. After their return, the blonde gym leader immediately asked them about what they have found.

"Well, we first spoke to the staff of the lab, and they gave us a visit of the building and we could identify all the possible entrances and exits," explained Y. "There is a lot, honestly, and when they'll attack, it would be hard to cover all of them."

"Maybe I can help you with some of my inventions? Some of them would be helpful to cover the building."

"If it's not bothering you, it would be nice if we can install them tomorrow. One of the other problems, is that there are a lot of ways to come and escape. The gate to the Versant Road is literally at twenty meters of the main entrance, and the alley ends in the Bleu Plaza. From this point, it is easy to join the Estival or Vernal Avenue, or even the Prism Tower."

"And from the Prism Tower, you can approximately go everywhere in the city," sighed the tenant of the gym. "And even from the Bleu Plaza, because all the Plazas are connected together, they can easily arrive at the opposite end of the city. The way Lumiose City's streets are all connected together can be such a shame in this kind of situation."

"But according to their accents, we can say that only Korrina is from Kalos, actually, and because she may have lost her memories, we can suppose that they don't know the city well and would try to limit as much their movements as much as possible, because Lumiose's streets are a real labyrinth," continued Y.

__ "In that case, the easier way for them would be to take the gate to Versant Road and to arrive in Camphrier Town. And from this, they would of course go to Cyllage City. I will call Grant, if they managed to escape the city. He would be able to stop them. But when do you think they would act?"

"Not before tomorrow, they need to identify the lab first and they did not have enough time since Shalour City. I think they will not do it in the night, there are a lot of guards, and with the night, they would not be able to see and would get lost easily. The easier way for them would be to attack when there are a lot of people in the street so they could arrive and escape easily. The morning, between 7 and 9 am and the afternoon, between 5 and 7 pm seem to be the best time for them."

The trio, even though it were mainly Y and Clemont who spoke, continued to plan their actions for hours, which looked like minutes for them. 

__ When the young girl retained a yawn with difficulty, the specialist of Electric Pokémon looked at the clock, and exclaimed, "It's already 1 am! We should sleep, and continue to plan later."

"Yes, it's a good idea... Good night, X, Clemont..."

She slowly left the room, with the gait of someone who did not sleep enough the night before, and who needed to rest. She, like her childhood friend and the Gym Leader, was too tired to care about something else than her bed. She did not even care anymore for all the noise outside, from the cars, the people, or the strange and unusual ones, but after all, Lumiose City was a city who rarely slept. 

When she walked through the door, the city plunged into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing you have to remember from this chapter: Wasting food is bad.
> 
> And also fact of the chapter: the building I used for the Testsuch's lad does really exist in the XY games, in the same place than described in the chapter. You can not visit the building in the games, but maybe if you play at them and that you found it, you will have a little thought for this fanfic. And for the lab in Shalour City, the building is not inspired by the ones you find in the city in the game but by the real French City which inspired Shalour City, Saint-Malo, because outside the old town (which is really beautiful by the way), the city has a lot of concrete buildings because Saint-Malo had to be rebuilt after WWII, like 80% of the city was destroyed.


	7. Blackout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> Just came back yesterday evening (or early this morning like it was past midnight) from my trip to Germany so here we go for the chapter I promised you! I can't believe this chapter was written back in April last year. If I was less tired, I would have do a proper re-reading with a few changes, but I guess I'll do it later.
> 
> Anyway, hope you will enjoy it!

When Y crossed the door, the city plunged into darkness.

It happened suddenly. A little whistling, and the City of Light became the City of Night. From the top of the Prism Tower to the five different gates, the famous capital became a sea of darkness. The only oasis of light, far away, was, ironically, the Power Plant. But this night was not silent. From everywhere, cries, horn blasts and sirens resonated through the city. And like the tiny sound you heard in your room when the lights were off, the sounds resonated, got bigger and slowly became frightening. You jumped at each sound, each shadow, each move you believed to see in the dark, afraid that Darkrai would visit you.

Inside the room of the Prism Tower which welcomed the trio, the atmosphere was the same as it was in the rest of the city. Confusion. Wandering. Chaos. What happened? Nobody knew. What was the reason behind it? Nobody knew. What should they do? Nobody knew. In the darkness, humans were lost, all alone, and revealed how breakable they were. Darkness was the stage of the darker scheme, where the shadows laughed at the misfortune and the despair of the actors, the little and breakable humans. The night was not for humans, but for the hidden monsters. The old legends explained how the night was the theater of fear, but with the progress, the science and the electricity, they forgot it, and believed they were more powerful than the night and the nightmare themselves. But now that the light was gone, they were all alone, lost in the darkness.

X's hand reached his Pokéball. He frowned. The room was too little, and between the sofa, the furniture and Y and Clemont, he could not let Salamé go out, in order to light the place. It was too risky. It was the same for Y. Fletchy did not produce fire naturally without using a Fire-type move, unlike Salamé, and if Y ordered Fletchy to use one of her attacks in the room, what would be the consequences? It was too hazardous. The better choice would be to get out of the Tower, and to release their Pokémon. But how could they go out? Without electricity, it was hard to move inside, and it would take a lot of time. And worse was: the major part of the Tower used Clemont's inventions, which needed electricity. The elevators they used to arrive also used electricity. Was there even an exit which did not need electricity? This blackout did not arrive at a good moment.

And suddenly, he realized. The night was the time for the ones who act in the shadow. And the terrorists who attacked Testsuch in Shalour City, who planned to attack their laboratory in Lumiose City, weren’t they the kind of people who were hidden in the shadows, and attacked when nobody thought they would? For who this blackout would be advantageous if it was not them? They made the mistake to think that the attackers would attack later, and then it ended up with the terrorists taking them by surprise. He thought as fast as he could. They probably caused the disappearance of the light and would use the confusion to attack the lab. So they needed to have at least one person to cut the electricity, while the others would attack the laboratory. There were not many places where it was possible to cause a blackout in all the city. A short-circuit in a private building would only cut the power supply of the building, so it was a public one. And even in this public one, it was a necessary one which had an impact on the power supply in the city. And which building fulfill the task best...

Than the Prism Tower itself?

He was sure of it. One of the terrorists was close to him. It was an amazing opportunity to arrest them! But in order to stop them, he had to first go out of the Tower. Which made him return to his first problems: how could they get light, and get out?

The answer came from a nine year old little girl. Bonnie suddenly appeared at the door’s frame, a flashlight in her hand, "Big Brother? X? Y? What happened?"

The boy from Vaniville Town authorized himself to have a little smile. The flashlights were light. The light was a way to get out, to find the exit. It was his solution. Why he did not think of it before?

"Bonnie! Why are you still awake?" asked Clemont.

"Well..."

"Bonnie!" interrupted X. "Where did you found the flashlight? Do you have another one?"

"In the kitchen, and I think there are two other flashlights there!"

"Can you guide me to it please?"

"Sure!"

And without waiting, as a way to avoid her brother's sermon, she led the way to the kitchen, X following her. Y and Clemont, surprised, followed the black haired boy. Why was he doing this? While getting a flashlight, he explained his reasoning. 

__ And when he started to leave the room to go out of the Tower, the gym leader said, "So you think it's their fault? But even with a flashlight, you will never be able to reach the lab safely!"

"I'll manage to do it."

"No, it's impossible. I come with you."

"Well, I’ll let you two go out," declared Y. "I have something to do before I join you."

"Y? What do..." started Clemont.

"I think I get what you want to do," smiled X. "See you later!"

"Yes, see ya!"

The two boys hurtle down the back stairs, which were surprisingly hidden behind a strange robot. The sound of their steps resonated on the metal steps and the echo sounded like a countdown. But what will they find at the end of this frightening countdown? Unknown, it was unknown, they knew nothing about what exactly happened. They just had their theories, their suppositions, and wanted to confirm it. But will they get their answers? What will be the end of this journey they started only because of a detail on a video? These questions were played on a loop in X's head. And this dark, scary night, did not help him to think properly.

They finally arrived at the end of the stairs, out of breath . The Prism Tower was tall, too tall, and the stairs were too long. Even on the descent, it was a real ordeal, and even more when it was, like this day, in an emergency case, and in precipitation. This descent already drained their strength. 

They opened the back door. And the chaos began. With the electricity out, it was not only the light inside the house which turned off but also the street lamps, the traffic lights and the alarms. Without the street lamps, everything was dark, and you could easily get lost or accidentally bump into something, or someone. Without the traffic lights, the traffic became uncontrollable, and accidents would quickly and repeatedly happen. Without the alarms, the shops and some houses were not protected anymore and some people would not let go of an opportunity like this one. And it was only a little amount of the problems a total blackout like this one could cause. 

What should they do? They went to find the answer for that, but everybody was just running and crying and panicking, and their only stable light was their not bright enough electric torches, and an oppressive feeling did not stop to grow in their chest... They looked everywhere, but the chaos was too big, too important, and it was impossible to focus on a thing or to find something. The panic of the area started to get to them, they would never find them, they would fail again and...

**VOMP!**

Someone bumped into X, and they both fell on the ground. He sighed. Of course, it had to happen. With all these people who were running around, it was surprising that it did not happen before. On him, he could feel the body of the person who just ran on him. Their hat tickled his nose. They was apparently taller than him. But without light, he could see nothing else. They started to stand up. As Clemont illuminated them with his torch, he could see a gloved hand. The thing which surprised him the most was not that this person wore gloves at the end of June, but was how their fingers were abnormally long. He never saw something like this before, and he asked himself if it was even biologically possible to have such long fingers. But his questions about this strange detail stopped when the person stood up and apologized for the incident. He immediately recognized this voice, and the light of Clemont's flashlight which lit a part of his head confirmed what he thought. 

He exclaimed, "You're Ama! From the attack!"

"Eeh... Sorry? Goodbye!"

And, without waiting, the boy ran away. And, without waiting, X and Clemont followed him. Ama was looking around the Tower, finally fixed his eyes on something and went to a little street. The one who goes to the Bleu Plaza. And, from it, someone ran to the Testsuch's laboratory. X swore. He could catch him, he was literally on his tail, and he cannot grasp this possibility! And now, the boy would, maybe, vanish into thin air again. He sighed. Now that he let his chance to catch him go, he has to catch up and to stop them. If Y was with him, she would probably say that maybe if he let this one go, they would be able to find all of them. She was such an optimistic girl, she would not give up so easily. He smiled. Yes, she would just run after them no matter what she would meet. He knew that she would meet them too, and he did not want to disappoint her for something like that. Together, they will catch them and discover the truth behind all of this story.

They arrived at the Bleu Plaza. The symbol of the square, the blue obelisk, became an impressive and frightening shadow on the night. Now that they arrived here, Ama had three possibilities. He could take the first way, at the right, and join the Estival Avenue or the Magenta Plaza. He could follow the street on the left and go to Vernal Avenue or Vert Plaza. He could go back to the Prism Tower. But these three possibilities were not totally credible. According to when he came, and to his goal, he would obviously take the alley across and reach the South Boulevard. And Testsuch's laboratory.

And so he did. 

And so did X and Clemont.

The little alley was empty. It was a silent oasis from all the chaos outside - but a silence made from tension, fear, and darkness. It was oppressive, and the Kalosian Dexholder could feel a shiver in his backbone. He frowned. Should he continue to follow him until he found the others? But Ama knew that he was following him, he could see it from the way he looked behind him, from the way his body was stiff. Should he try to beat him to it now? They were two people, but they knew nothing about this boy. They saw none of his Pokémon yet. And even by himself, he did not look weak. They have to be careful. Furthermore, X could catch Clemont's look. And they reflected all his insecurities. He could say, by looking at them, that the gym leader was thinking to who they were, and if they had any connection with the Team Flare. If yes, why did they reappear after such a long time? What was their goal?

But they did not realize that all their questions, their hesitations, their doubts were weaknesses. And Ama did not hesitate to use it against them. Before they realized it, a dark shadow was charging at them. X and Clemont did not have time to think anymore. They jumped in a narrow dead end, the kind of one that looked terribly like a trap of a horror movie, that kind of dead end when someone who tried to escape from a killer, only to meet the deeper despair while meeting their cruel fate. X swallowed. Who was this Ama, exactly? Why was he doing that?

"Stay out of all of this."

Ama finally spoke. Even if it sounded more like an order.

"Why?"

"You know nothing about all of it, and you are not fully involved in it yet. So stay out of it. You are innocent, it would be better for all of us if you just stop to have an interest in this whole deal."

"You are the one who put the others in danger. You are the one who should stop."

"But unlike you, I did not have the choice. Stay away."

And without saying anything else, Ama disappeared in the night, and the shadow, probably one of his Pokémon, followed him. X wanted to stop him, to ask him why they were doing that, why was Korrina with them, why they did not have the choice. But he could not. In this darkness, even with the flashlight, he could not see him anymore. He clenched his fists. Why did it happen again? Why could he not stop Ama? He felt powerless, like during the event with the Team Flare, when Korrina was injured, and when he went to hide in a tree. He hated this feeling. Why did he have to feel it again? He wanted it to stop, he just wanted this feeling to go away, quickly. But it did not.

Clemont put his hand on his shoulder. According to the look in his eyes, he felt powerless as well. But he managed to smile, a little bit.

"We failed this time. But it's not the end. They should be at the laboratory right now. And even if we failed to catch them today, we will do it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day, we will manage to do it."

X felt the corner of his lips rising. The Gym Leader was right. He could not give up now. He would continue until he catches them and discovers the truth behind all of it. He nodded to the blond inventor.

"Let's go."

And they both left the little creepy dead end and returned to the alley. The adrenaline made them go quicker than ever. Even if it was still dark in the alley, they managed to go to the South Boulevard a few minutes later. The Testsuch laboratory was just in front of them. The dark stones of its latest floors disappeared in the ink sky. The windows were all closed and, without lighting, the reflection of the windows looked like dark and slimy oil. And the tall and large wood doors they hardly opened to enter in the building some hours ago were now fully open. It was not a surprise. They already knew that the laboratory was probably the original target, the one for which they decided to shut down all the light from the city. But what surprised them the most, was the lack of people around. There were none of the police, none the staff from the foundation, not even the onlookers, there was nobody. And they realized why. With the light off, the population stayed in their houses or were doing some things around the city, but their only thought were to try to be safe from it, and they would not care for an attack like this one. With the light off, the police had too much to handle, and they could not act immediately against this attack. And because it was the night, the majority of the staff were probably in their homes, and with the blackout, it could be hard to go to the laboratory without problems. 

They were smart. Too smart. They managed to attack at the perfect time, when everybody were sleeping or weren’t caring about other things, and in a way that caused the authorities being not able to take the time to try to stop them. And after that, of course, they would vanish once again, until next time. 

X looked at Clemont, who nodded to him.

They were here, and they would try to stop them.

And they did not think of the possibilities of failure.

They entered the large doors.

Inside, it was still darker than outside. Apparently, none of their lights was working. Without the weak light of their torches, they would be blind. But this tiny light was not enough. Where were the doors, the corridors, the stairs? They found a door, after moments of squinting against the faint light, which leads to a long corridor, with a reasonable amount of doors. X did not hesitate a second and entered in, followed by Clemont. But there was nothing. Behind every door they opened, in every room they got into, in every hiding place they examined, there was nothing. It was not only that. Besides being in the darkness, the building seemed to be in a bubble which was spared of the chaos of the city. And it made things worse. And how it could not be? In the deepest darkness, in the total silence, in such a situation like this one, how could they not be tense? And it did not get better, because even if they were not tense, they found nothing, and they could not let this opportunity go...

A person suddenly walked out from one of the doors, a few meters from them, and disappeared behind a door a few seconds after that.

They did not waited or searched around them any longer. They immediately followed the figure, and arrived in a room, a laboratory full of scientific machines and computers. The strange person was near to an imposing central dominating unit, the kind of one which was there to make complicated calculations. The blue, green and red warning lights illuminated what they could now identify as a man with a strange spiky hair-style. 

__ They tried to observe each other with suspicion, before the fight started.

"Elec, go!"

"Heliolisk!"

"Darmanitan!" cried the unknown man.

The fire Pokémon went out of the Pokéball and his fire eyebrows illuminated the room. X and Clemont could now see the man clearly. He should be around forty years old, and the better word to describe him was “punk”. His head was shaved, except for some pink hair spikes which went in every direction. The orange flames of the Unovan Pokémon were reflecting on his pale skin, which was riddled from piercings. He wore a white lab coat over a black shirt and grey jeans. His red eyes, which looked annoyed, looked at the Dexholder and the Gym Leader with a bit of curiosity, before he realized something, and his lips formed a cat-like smile. He raised his hand and said:

"Stop, stop! You are the two kids Katell was speaking about, right? Well, I thought the blondie was a girl but apparently, I was wrong!"

"You... You know Katell?" asked X.

"Yeah, my wife is actually..."

He could not finish his sentence. A big sound came out of another room. The pink-haired man ran into the corridor and followed the sound, his eyebrows frowning. X sighed. Why did these kind of situations became weirder every second? He did not have another choice, than going after this strange man. They quickly arrived in another room, full of computers. Of destroyed computers. The screens were broken, the shard of glass covered the ground, the holes in the central program units lets them see the different pieces that showed information. And in the center of the room, in the center of this chaos, stood Ama. It was obvious that he was the one who did it. The punk in the lab coat was also here, looking angry at the boy, his Darmanitan still out of his Poké Ball. The still unknown man was the first to speak:

"So you came here... Do you realize that what you are doing is wrong?"

"It is, but do we have the choice? I don't think so."

"How annoying you are... But even if you say that you don't have the choice, I have to stop you, you know?" answered the pink-haired man while calling back his Darmanitan and letting out a Sawsbuck out of one of his Poké Balls. "I seriously don't want to lose my job, so I will not let some bloody terrorist do whatever they want, okay? Sawsbuck, Double-Edge!"

"Take-Down!"

  
  
  


A shadow came from the corridor, jostled X and Clemont and attacked the Sawsbuck. The flashlights fell on the ground. In the darkness, it was impossible to guess which species the Pokémon was. X sighed with annoyance. He had the irritated feeling that during the beginning of the blackout, he was only a spectator, and it pissed him off. It was time to stop it, and to have a role in what happened in front of both him and Clemont. 

X opened one of his Poké Balls and cried, "Kanga! Mega Punch!"

The Kangaskhan immediately obeyed her trainer and attacked the unknown opponent, who tried to avoid the attack. But the Kalosian Pokédex Holder noticed that his target lost a bit of their speed, which meant that they probably received some damage from the punch. And he still had this advantage that nobody noticed...

"Li'l Kanga, Thunderbolt!"

The young Pokémon got out of her mother's pouch and did not hesitate to attack. The shadow lowered out of pain. Without saying anything, Ama made his Pokémon came back to his tiny ball. X frowned, because he suddenly heard a little throbbing. And as the opponent started to move again, they thought he was about to call another Pokémon and continue to attack them...

Only to find that the boy had taken a chair and was running into the window. The chair fell afterwards, with several shards of glass flying in the room, and the strange boy was jumping outside, leaving three stunned people behind him. They did not expect that. He had started a fight, and now he was running away? Why did his behavior changed so suddenly? Something was wrong. Something had changed, during their fight. Something caused this change. While thinking of that, X had a little jolt. Before Ama's behavior changed, there was a little throbbing. The kind of throbbing of a communication device, like the Holo Caster, or maybe another device. After all, according to his accent, he was probably from another region, well the Holo Caster was mainly used in Kalos. He remembered that some of the communication devices from the other regions were easily unnoticed. If Ama had one of them, he could receive a message and watch it without being noticed. It would explain this change.

X suddenly realized. If Ama changed his behavior after receiving a message, it meant that he probably made all of it only to get their attention on him, while his partners would do other things. And if it was that...

_ Where were the others, and what were they doing? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact about the chapter: Testsuch comes from the mix of the English word Test and the German word Versuch (experiment). Which means that the -Such at the end of Testsuch is technically to pronounce with the German pronunciation.


	8. Chase in Lumiose City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> Here we go for the chapter of the day! Hope you'll enjoy it!

_ X suddenly realized. If Ama changed his behavior after receiving a message, it meant that he probably made all of the fuss only to get their attention on him, while his partners would do another thing. And if it was that... _

Where were the others, and what were they doing?

* * *

X got to the window with difficulty, because of all the broken devices. He tried to take a look outside, but it was useless, he could see nothing, let alone the way Ama used to escape. He had to look around to find him, or his partners, or all of them. But where did he go? And where were the others? Were they still in the building, or already running outside? If he wanted to find them, he had to ask for help. And he knew the perfect Pokémon who could help him. 

After opening one of his Poké Ball, X asked the monster he once got from Gurkinn, "Hey, Garma, there is this guy who ran away after doing bad things, and it would be really great if you can find him, so can you go look after him?"

With a prideful smile and a little jeer, the Gengar left and disappeared into the shadows. The Loner had a little smile. The dark purple Pokémon was still so prideful, but he was powerful, and X knew that he could trust him. For now, he had just to let the Gengar handle Ama's escape, and looking for the rest of the terrorists. And in that case, maybe... Maybe he would finally be able to find Korrina.

After a last sigh, he finally turned back in order to leave the room... Only to find that the strange man who fought Ama before had vanished.

"Where did that man go?" X asked Clemont, surprised.

"I don't know... While you were speaking with your Gengar, he left. I asked him what he was doing, but he only answered that he had something to check, and he disappeared into a room. It looks like he somehow already knew the building."

"Yes... But we still have no idea of who he is. Maybe he is one of them? Did he went to the right or to the left?"

"To the left. But I don't know if he went back to the room where we first met him or if he left the building. I mean, if I remember right, the hall is also in that direction."

"I see... Well, for the moment, we should just try to go out, and see if we can find something."

oOo

The duo left the room and returned to the corridor. It was still terribly dark. The light was still out. Next to him, X could hear Clemont muttering, "It's strange..." while looking around. 

"What is strange?" X asked.

"Ah... It's probably stupid to think about that, but I wonder why there is no light here?"

"Well... Probably because of the blackout, right?"

"There is the blackout, yes, but it's because of it that I find the lack of light here strange."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that there was an emergency generator outside, I could hear it in the alley. According to the sound, there is no doubt that the generator was working. And it was not a little generator, this sound is specific to one model, a really recent one, which is normally able to power a whole building for a week without a problem. But... Even if there is such a nice generator like the one outside, there is no light in the laboratory. And according to the windows, there is no light on the other floors either. So I was wondering where the light is..."

"I see... Well, there are also other buildings around, right? Maybe the generator does not belong to Testsuch, but to another one?"

"Yes... But they should have at least another generator in that case, and I could not find anyone..."

"Why do you think that they naturally have a generator?"

"It's just that it is a lab, with experiments which need electricity, so it makes no sense that there is no generator. And even without this fact, there is no doubt that they have one."

"Why?"

"Do you remember the room where we met the man? He was near to a CPU, which had all their warning lights on. And it was definitely powered with electricity."

"Yes, probably... But we arrive outside, we should focus on those terrorists first."

"Sure..."

X did not have to look at the gym leader’s face to see that he was still thinking of this mystery. But even if it was strange, there was probably a logical explanation to it, and right now, they needed to stop Ama and his group. They finally left the building, and arrived in the South Boulevard.

It was now time to find them.

* * *

In a little street, between the Bleu Plaza and the Centrico Plaza, the figure of a young boy was running. The sound of his feet was soft, as if a Pokémon was silently leaving the place. He often turned his head to the right or the left but his gait was self-assured, indicating that he knew where he was going, even if the street was completely dark because of the blackout. In the night, lost in the shadows and the sounds of the city, nobody would normally notice him, because he hid in the darkness itself.

But the shadows would always notice this strange boy, and most of them would let him leave without a sound.

It was different for Garma. His trainer trusted him to find the strange boy. And he did.

As soon that he had reached the boy, he went out of the darkness and stopped him in his tracks. His Trainer had asked him to stop this strange person. If he did it, if he stopped the boy and brought him back to his master, he would be happy. He would congratulate him, and Garma always loved it. He always loved to be a great Pokémon who always succeeds. So he would not let the boy go.

He attacked with Shadow-Punch. A shadow punch came out of the darkness and shot at the young boy. He avoided it. He took a defensive posture, his hand grabbing a Poké Ball. With few sparks, a Pocket Monster finally came out. Their red eyes were judging him while they were saying.

_ I will not let you have my Trainer. _

Garma did not care about the threat of his new opponent. His Trainer had asked him to do it, he will do it. He attacked again. Dark Pulse. The Pokémon tried to avoid it, and the Gengar could see that he was fast, but his attack was quicker, and they got a little wound on their leg. He had hope that they would flinch and not be able to counterattack, but luck was not with him, and he had to step backward after being hit by a Shock Wave attack. He grimaced. It would be not as easy as he expected.

Suddenly, he heard something new. Something was coming. Where? Right, left, behind? No. Above. The sound of wings, with a girl’s voice yelling something. He recognized that voice. It was a blonde girl, who was often with his trainer. Near to her, he could see one of her partners, a Fletchinder. Why were they doing here? Why did they interfere in his fight? It upset him. A lot. His pride did not take it well. He was a powerful Gengar, he did not need their help! And if he did not catch him alone, his trainer would not praise him as much. He definitely did not want their help. 

The blonde girl recognized him, thanks to his Mega Stone. He frowned.

“ _ Stay out! I'll do it by myself,”  _ Garma attacked them while yelling in Pokémon language.

And a moment later, Ama saw a strange spectacle in front of his eyes. The Gengar he was fighting a few seconds ago was now attacking the flying trainer who came to help him. She asked him to calm down, but he did not, and the Fletchinder, annoyed to see the Gengar going after her trainer, attacked him in return. A fight between a terrorist and someone who wanted to stop him became a fight between allies. It was ridiculous. And terribly funny, too. If he wasn’t afraid he will be noticed by them, he would laugh at the fight. His Pokémon gave him an incredulous look. Why were they wasting their time with them? He sighed. His partner was right, he had to meet the others as soon as possible. 

Y and Garma noticed that Ama was gone when the young boy had already left the Centrico Plaza.

* * *

In a little street between the Vernal Avenue and the Vert Plaza, two groups were staring at each other. To be more accurate, X was looking at the person he thought was Korrina, while Clemont was counting the people in the group. If he remembered right, when they arrived at Lumiose City, X and Y had told him that there were four terrorists. But in front of his eyes, there were not four, but five people. And Ama was not with them, which meant that from Shalour City, someone joined them. Why did they came with more people this time? Was it because they were nearly caught by X the last time or for another reason? This was definitely strange.

The Lumiose gym leader studied all of them. The girl X identified as Korrina was looking the Dexholder with a curious and somehow lost look, like if she was trying to remember if she had met him before. She wore a hoodie with a hood which hides the most of her hair, but he could see enough of her face and, if it was not Korrina, then it had to be a supernatural coincidence, because they looked exactly the same. Even her light grey eyes was light like the former Shalour City Gym Leader had, with the same curious and determine glint. It could not be a coincidence.

Near to her, a man was apparently more worried about her than about the two enemies in front of him. He could see a protective glint in his blue eyes, the kind of one he could have for Bonnie. He could not see any more about him, his clothes covering his whole body, and a scarf and a hat were hiding the rest of his face. Clemont preferred to focus on the two ones on their left. They both wore a dark brown cloak, with large hoods which covered their head. However, he could see that there was definitely a height gap, as one of them was clearly shorter than the other. Finally, he looked at the one who was closest to them and was standing in a tense posture. Like the others, they wore clothes that were too hot for the season, and a hat was covering their head. Their normal, brown eyes looked afraid, yet determined at the same time. He also noticed that, unlike the others, they had a big bag, the kind of bag he thought only Hikers wore. But this person was really skinny and short, the bag was oversized and was probably a pain to wear. So why do they have this? There were so many mysteries about all of them...

The time had frozen. None of them dare to move or speak. The tension was palpable. And with the two typical Lumiosian building which surrounded them, the feeling of being tricked into a trap was visible on everyone’s faces. But all of them knew that it could not last forever. They would have to do something eventually. And they all feared for the moment. Clemont swallowed. Maybe... Maybe there was a way to stop all of this without any violence? He still remembered the battle against Team Flare, and he knew for sure that he did not want to see something like that again. He did not want Kalos to be the theater of destructive fights again. He did not want to let all this violence influence the next generation, especially his little sister. He had to stop it.

He gathered all his courage and, with a voice which shook more than he wanted, he asked, "Can we... Can we just stop all of this? Why are we fighting? I'm sure... I'm sure that we do not have to do that, that we can just sit and speak and..."

"You're ridiculous," interrupted a mocking man’s voice, the taller person with the cloak.

"Wh... What?" Clemont felt himself stop in his tracks. Why? Why did this person think he was ridiculous? Why were there people who did not want to understand the value of peace?

"You perfectly heard what I said. Sit down and speak? Do you think that it is how the world works?" said the same person, still with a mocking voice and a Kanto accent. "Our goals are different, so we have to fight, that's how it works."

"It's not because our goals are different than fighting is a must, I am sure we can understand each other..." The Gym Leader tried to answer.

"You are terribly naive. Understand each other? It's impossible. Maybe you can, but what about the other person? The world is not peaceful and happy like you. There would always be fights because it is human nature! And..."

"Stop it!" said the person with the big bag, definitely a girl, with a very loud Kanto accent. "You... You can't say that!" She was, surprisingly, speaking to the cloaked man. "I am sure that understanding each other will, one day, be possible. But it would be only possible if you stop thinking like that and recognized the value of every human and Pokémon! However..." And while saying that, her eyes were tinted by sadness. "However, I have to admit that in our case, we do not really have a choice."

"Why are you fighting, if you don't want to?" asked X.

"I... I can't..."

"Will we stay here forever, or will we finally leave this place?" interrupted the mocking voice. "I think we have some things to do."

"He's right," said the man who looked worried for Korrina, with a Sinnoh accent. "We have to go."

"Okay, let's go..."

And they quickly left. X glanced at Clemont and, without saying a word, they followed them. They soon went over the Vert Plaza and the green obelisk, and without any hesitation, the shortest cloaked person brought their group to the alley in the direction of the Jaune Plaza. Clemont released his Heliolisk, while X called out Elec. With the order to stop the terrorists' route, the two Electric-type Pokémon had stopped them at the Jaune Plaza. And when they looked behind their backs, they could see the two Kalos natives, ready to fight. 

"You are trapped. Please just stop resisting and come with us!" declared X.

"I don't think so," A too familiar voice answered behind him.

The Loner and the blond gym leader turned back to see Ama. His standing position showed that he was ready to fight, and will not let the duo stop them. His Pokémon, next to him, growled with a menacing tone. X was suspicious. He never saw this Pokémon species before, and it brought an unknown factor which could have too many consequences: what was their type? Their moves? Their abilities? He could not underestimate them. And with all these unknown factors, he did not know who he could call out of all his Pokémon. Without counting that, even if they were some of Kalos’s stronger trainers, they were in a situation of numerical disadvantage. They did not have the advantage, and the relieved look on Toki’s face was the best proof of it.

Until a new voice rang out from behind Ama.

"I think that you are the ones who are trapped now."

X allowed a relieved smile to form with his lips. Behind the young boy and his probably foreign Pokémon, Y, wearing her flying suit, was blocking the alley, her Fletchy spitting little flames. She looked irritated, and the atmosphere around her was scary. 

But it did not scare Ama, who had a little mocking smile.

"I thought you were still fighting the Gengar."

X frowned. A Gengar... Did he mean Garma? The shadow Pokémon was nowhere to be seen. His trainer glanced at his childhood friend, who answered with a little frown that meant she will explain it later. After this silent exchange, Y spoke.

"But now I'm here, and I will not let you go again."

"But there are only three of you, and there are six of us. If a fight happens, we have more chances to win than you have."

"But if we are five, then the fight will be more equal, right?" interrupted a girl's voice.

X's smile got larger. Heliolisk and Elec blocked one of the exits of the Plaza, and Y was guarding the space between the terrorist group and their entrance’s little street, leaving the two alleys unguarded. But these last ones were now blocked by Shauna and Tierno. The Furfrou stylist’s Skitty's tail was twisted and turned while the dancer’s Crawdaunt’s pincers cracked in a threatening way. And even if the terrorists were six when they were five, X and his friend now entirely surrounded them. They had nowhere to run. They were trapped. The tension in X's body faded slightly.

But even this bit was a grave mistake.

He was not ready when the taller cloaked person started to laugh, a mocking and condescending laugh. He was not ready when the cloaked man pulled out a Poké Ball from under his cloak and released a Jynx. He was not ready when the cloaked man ordered his Jynx to use Ice Beam at Tierno. And the boy, even with his Roller, was trapped by the two buildings which surrounded them. He could not avoid it... X started to run, his hand raised, but it was useless. He was too slow, he could not stop it, he could see the icy blue beam come closer to his friend, he could see the fear in the dancer's face, he could see him closing his eyes...

"Charizard! Flamethrower!"

A blast of fire came from the sky and met the ice attack, causing both of the attacks to disappear. Everyone, from X to Toki and Ama, they all raised their gazes in shock. Above them, with his wings and mouth open, a Charizard was showing all his power. And on this Charizard, a familiar face was looking at them. X sighed with relief. Relief to see Tierno safe, relief to see this person, relief to have this person on his side for this fight. Behind him, he could hear Y.

"Green!"

X heard someone gasping, but he did not hear who. But he was mainly focused on the Kanto Dexholder who just arrived. It was a miracle. It was the perfect time for him to arrive. Now, it was an equal fight, a six versus six-fight. But again, they surrounded the terrorists, and with them was nothing else that one of Kanto’s best Trainers, if not the whole world. Now, they had a chance to win.

The Loner lowered his gaze, in order to focus on their enemies. They looked bothered by the sudden appearance of the Viridian City Gym Leader. They probably all heard of his reputation and did not want to fight such a strong trainer. One of them even shivered. It was something of a good news for them. If the terrorists start to panic, they will make mistakes, and if they make mistakes, they will be able to use it for their own advantage.

Unfortunately, the terrorists did not give in to the panic. At least, not all of them. After looking around her, Korrina released a Lucario out of a Poké Ball. And a little glance was enough for X, Y, Shauna, and Tierno, to recognize the Pokémon. It was not a random Lucario, it was her Lucario, the one with who they fought, the one who disappeared just after the supposed death of his trainer. And if they believed the look the Aura Pokémon gave to them, he also recognized them. If the four friends from Vaniville Town still doubted the true identity of the blond girl, it had now definitely disappeared. It was Korrina.

The former Shalour City Gym Leader ordered her Pokémon, "Do you remember the training we have done with the balls last time? Can you do it again with Bullet Punch?"

The humanoid Pokémon nodded and, even if there was a little glint of guilt in his red eyes, he did not hesitate to attack X and his friends. They soon had to go back in order to not be harmed by the attack. But while doing this, X quickly noticed something, and he had no doubt that Green and Y also saw it.

Lucario was deliberately avoiding them. None of his punches reached one of them. This could only mean two situations. Either Lucario recognized them and disobeyed his trainer's order in order to not hurt them.

Or Korrina ordered him to not injure them. And with what she had said while saying her order, it was likely this hypothesis. But why was she doing that? Was this attack only to make them go back, or...

Or did Korrina recognized them? Did she remember them? Did she have her memories since the beginning, or did she recognize them only now? It was so frustrating, to have all this question and no answer.

But he had to concentrate on the situation, before coming up with this kind of question. While he was thinking, Ama and the little cloaked person, who seemed to panic less than their comrades, guided their comrades to a little street. Shauna, who was supposed to block this street, was too busy avoiding Lucario's punches. Near to X, Clemont said:

"This street goes to North Boulevard and... Oh no! They are trying to leave the city!"

Green released his Machamp to block the punches, but the Lucario was not as eager to fight, and followed his Trainer to the street. This attack, since the beginning, was probably only a distraction, and this moment they had helped their opponents to escape. They, again, followed them to the little street. They soon arrived at the North Boulevard. With the light of his torch, X could see the terrorists ran straight and went into a building.

"It's what I thought! It's Route 16's gate! They are trying to get out of the city!" Clemont yelled.

The group tried to speed up, to catch up to the terrorists quickly, but before they even realized it, they had reached the gate, and Route 16. If they didn’t go there in the night, they would have seen the wind which played in the grass, they would have smelled the delicate fragrance of the yellow flowers, they would have heard the violent meeting between the waterfalls and the pond, they would have felt the caress of the wild grass which reached their heights, they would have tasted this nostalgic flavor which was typical of the well-called Mélancolie Path. But in the night, armed with only torches which were not of big help in this deep darkness, the wind in the grass became threatening figures which did not stop moving, the fragrance of the flowers seemed to be rotten, the waterfall sound was exactly the same as the growling of a frightening monster, the grass on their skin felt like hands which wanted to grasp and bring them to hell, the melancholic taste became an acid danger taste.

Even with their torches, in the middle of all this insanely high grass, the growling of the waterfall, the dark night which covered everything, they were lost. They did not know where they were, where was the gate, where was the pond, where was everything else. In all that mess, how were they supposed to find the terrorists who just escaped? X started to breathe heavily. He could barely see the faces of his friends with the light of their torches or, in Green’s case, the flame of Green’s Charizard. But there was no sign of the terrorists. And that made the boy afraid that they will suddenly arrive behind their back and attack them. But, suddenly, Shauna yelled at them, as a mother would yell at her scared children:

"Stop being afraid! Think a little bit: if we are lost when we have torches, then the terrorists, with no torches, should be more lost than us! We will find them, so just keep hope and search!"

Re-motivated by the energy of the Furfrou stylist, they searched, and searched, and searched, in the grass, in the flowers, in the pontoon. They searched for a long time, a time long enough to make them evacuate all the adrenaline from the previous fights, and to leave them with tired, heavy and slow bodies. And when the dark sky started to tint with orange and golden colors, when the wind calmed down, when the threatening nature became inoffensive again, they have to admit the terrible and the overwhelming truth.

The terrorists had, again, vanished into thin air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: Do you know that in the Japanese and all the translations of the manga, X's Pokémon's nicknames are based on the French names of the Pokémon? Except in the French translation, where the nicknames are based on the Japanese names of the Pokémon.


	9. The Next Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> Was I going to forget to post it because my day was crazy? Sure I almost forgot we were Wednesday already- Anyway hope you'll enjoy this ninth chapter!

The sun came and transformed the darkness into gold and the threat into an inoffensive nature.

And with the hopeful sun, they had to admit the terrible, overwhelming, despairing truth.

The terrorists had, once again, disappeared. Once again, they were better, and came, won and left faster than a wind gust. It was so hopeless...

Y groaned. Between all the fights they have done, the sleepless nights, and the nightmare of the previous night, her energy started to fade away, and the lack of sleep started to have important effects on her. She felt it difficult to even move. She realized, before the sun rose, that she had difficulty to fully concentrate. Her field of view became smaller and she started to blink a lot. It is why she was relieved when she eventually heard Green.

"I think it’s useless to search anymore. It’s obvious that they’re not here anymore and even if we, thanks to a miracle, find them, we won’t have the strength to fight back. We should come back to Lumiose City, rest, and talk about what happened tonight."

They were all exhausted, so the offer of the Viridian City Gym Leader was welcome with sights of relief. They, slowly, started to make their way back to the capital. With the support of her Solsol, the Flying Trainer was able to follow her friends. During their difficult and ridiculously slow journey, she could not help but feel that something was wrong. But, again, she was tired, terribly tired, and she couldn’t find what bothered her so much. She associated it to her fatigue at first, but when the little group finally arrived at the bottom of the Prism Tower, she finally found the reason for her feeling. 

After looking at all of her friends, she finally asked, with a confused look, "Hey... Where is Shauna?"

* * *

To say that Shauna was annoyed was an understatement.

When she heard Green's offer, she was, as well than the others, relieved to finally be able to rest. But, of course, she was the last one to walk down the stairs, and when she walked down, probably because of a lack of concentration, she twisted her ankle. It was painful, and she could not walk anymore. The others were too tired and did not notice her, and her Kitty was already sleeping in her Pokéball, and she could not wake her up even for the sake of Xerneas. This day was definitely a bad day.

Not far from her, she could see a Fisherman cabin. Maybe, if there were people here, she could get help. With difficulties and several unsuccessful attempts, she eventually managed to reach the door. She was about to knock when she heard something which made her stop immediately.

"What have you done?! I thought we agreed to not attack civilians and you just attacked the boy without hesitation! You could’ve killed him!"

"You agreed to not do this, but I never said I agreed too! And he was maybe a civilian, but he was trying to stop us!"

Two voices were arguing in the caban. And even if she only heard them a bit at the Jaune Plaza, she recognized them. It was two of the terrorists! If she remembered correctly, the first one was the young boy that Y had followed, when the second one was the cloaked person who attacked Tierno. But they were in the same team, right? Why are they arguing?

"You weren’t obligated to attack him!" a third voice took part. "Violence isn’t a solution!"

"You really dare to say that in our situation? You're ridiculous! If we want to reach our goal, we’ll have to make some sacrifices, and you already know it!"

"It’s not a reason to try to kill people! If we start to do this, we’ll be as bad as  _ them _ , or even worse than  _ them _ !"

"But if we follow your peaceful and naive ideology, we’ll never get what we want! And don't forget that if you still think that way, I personally saw enough to assure you that if you’re not ready to make sacrifices, you’ll lose. Well, I don't care for this sacrifice, my hands are already dirty, but what about you all?"

"We should stop arguing and decide on a new strategy before we leave for Couriway Town!" intervened Korrina.

Unconsciously, Shauna curled up. She did not know why they were arguing, but she started to feel afraid. The voice of the man who was speaking about how they had to get their hands dirty clearly indicated that he wasn’t joking. What should she do? She couldn’t stay here. If they found her, who knew what they’ll do? But with her twisted ankle, she couldn’t walk, and she didn’t have enough energy to even crawl far enough from the cabin. She was in a dead end, and her Kitty was still asleep...

Suddenly, a man sat near to her, asking with a strong accent:

"Are you okay?"

She looked at him to confirm what she thought, but she already recognized him, even if a hat was hiding his face. It was one of them, too. One of the terrorists. She shivered. What had she done to Yveltal to deserve all this bad luck? She tried to get away from him, but the pain engulfed her when her foot touched the ground, making her grimace.

"You won’t go far with your ankle. How did you manage to be in this situation?" the man sighed in an accent Shauna definitely recognized as a Sinnosian one.

"It's none of your business!"

"Probably, but for your and our sakes, you can’t stay here."

And, with these words, he stood up and took the young girl in his arms. She stopped herself from screaming with difficulty. She was already in a bad position, screaming would only place the attention on her, and it wasn’t the moment to do it. She couldn’t help but feel scared. Now that she was literally in their hands, what’ll they do to her? Will they use her as a hostage? Will they force her to join and help them? Will they kill her? The speech of one of them about the sacrifices came into her mind, and she knew that he will not hesitate to attack and kill her, as he did with Tierno. As she thought of all the different possibilities she unconsciously closed her eyes, apprehensive of what she will see when she will open them again.

It was a surprise to say that she was surprised when, when she opened her eyes, she noticed that they weren’t heading into the cabin, but moving away from it. And if she was right, they were going toward the gate to Lumiose City. She couldn’t hold back a sigh of relief. He wasn’t bringing her to the cabin. She wasn’t going to be their captive. They won’t hurt her. Even if she couldn’t see them, she felt the eyes of the man on her,

"You’re not going to make me your hostage, or a captive?" Shauna asked.

"It would be ridiculous. Our policy is not to capture or to kill people, even if that guy says the opposite. He’s isolated in our group, and he knows it. Plus, you’re exhausted, your Pokémon is sleeping, and your ankle is twisted. You’re not a danger for us, and even if we were heartless people and take people as hostages, you will bring us nothing, even if you look kind and gentle, the people who we want to get things from will never give us them in exchange for you. So the best solution, for both of us, is to just bring you to a safer place, and not leave you near a fisherman cabin which has known better days with a whole group of criminals in it."

"Why are you doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"These attacks."

"It's something I can't tell you, and believe me, it’s for your own good to just ignore it."

"And what happened to Korrina? Did she really lost all her memories?"

"She did. She forgot everything which happened before the last three years. Well, thanks to _ a certain person _ , she has at least an idea of who she was, but she still doesn’t remember anything."

" _ A certain person _ ? Who is it?"

"It is, again, something I can't tell you."

"It’s not funny!"

"But believe me, you’ll be better off ignoring it."

"There’s a lot of things I should ignore for my own good, but what if it’s better for me to know it?"

"You’re really stubborn, aren't you?"

"Yes. So?"

"There is no way I'll tell you these things. First, it would put you in danger, second, the situation may not help us at all, and it’s better to keep it a secret ."

"It's not funny!"

"It’s how life works, I guess."

"Do you say that because you are an adult?"

"Do you think I keep all these things secret just because you are a teenager?"

"Some adults act like that, so why not you?"

"It is not a question of if you’re too young or not, it is just that it’s better for us to stay in the shadow and hide our secrets, that's all." sighed the man. "And we have arrived at Lumiose City, so I guess our talk is over now."

"What a shame... But I won’t give up."

"What do you mean?"

"I’m sure X-ey and Y-ey will continue to follow and try to stop you. I'll go with them, and you can be sure I’ll do everything I can in order to discover all of your secrets. I mean, except that guy who spoke about sacrifice, the rest of your group don't look so bad, and I wonder what are the reasons that make you all go that far as to attack people."

"You better not do that."

"The more you say I’ll be better off not doing something, the more I want to do it, so I guess I can't fulfil your request."

The man laughed. It wasn’t a laugh you had after a good joke, not an innocent and joyful laugh. It was more a resigned laugh, that sounded like he already knew that he couldn’t make her change her mind. It was taunting with a bit of sadness too. He was surely not happy about the situation, but she didn't know if it was because of her curiosity or because of the reason why he was with the terrorists. And while he was calling a taxi to bring her to the hospital, she made herself the promise to discover the truth behind the sad laugh.

* * *

"Shauna! Where were you? We were really worried!"

"Sorry, sorry! I had some difficulties to follow you because of my twisted ankle, but fortunately, I met someone who helped me to get here!"

After they realized that Shauna had disappeared, the group went back on their feet to find the Furfrou stylist. But with their tiredness, they were less efficient than a blind Slaking who had its feet tied together. They found the girl only thanks to luck, when a taxi driver told them he saw one of his colleagues drive her to the hospital. And after they finally arrived at the hospital, finding her still took a long time, as the doctors were busy because of all the accidents which happened during the blackout. Fortunately, they eventually discovered that she only twisted her ankle and that she will be able to leave before the end of the day.

Y slumped in the armchair. The others did not wait long before they sat on the other chairs or even on the ground. After using the little bit of energy they had left to find Shauna, the group looked more like zombies than actual humans. This night was exhausting. For X and Y, who didn’t have the time to actually rest between the two attacks. For Shauna and Tierno, who, when the blackout occurred, had to run all over the city to find their friends. For Clemont, who couldn’t stop thinking of the events with Team Flare since the explosion in the Badlands. For Green, who came all the way from Kanto just to be here. Speaking of the Kantosian Dexholder...

"Senior Green, if it’s alright with you, can you tell us why did you come here?" asked Y.

"It’s alright with me," answered the Viridian Gym Leader. "After the attack at Shalour City, Master Gurkinn told me about what you’d found about Korrina. I wondered if these terrorists were related to Team Flare, so I came here to investigate it."

"And after this night, do you think they are?" asked Clemont.

"No, I don't think they are related. Even without the difference in clothes, they seem less organized than Team Flare. And if they were as big as them, there’s no doubt that they would’ve come with more people. Only four people to attack the laboratory of Shalour City? It was not as big as the one in Lumiose, but not a little one too. They probably couldn’t get more people to do it. So we can exclude the Team Flare or some other team like Team Rocket. The odds that they are involved in the explosion in the Badlands are near to zero, and if they are, the worst possibility is that they are some obscure allies, no more."

"In that case, who are they?" sighed Tierno.

"I don't know." admitted the Kantosian Dexholder. "But I personally want to know more about their reasons."

"What do you mean?" asked Y.

"Why did they attack the Testsuch's laboratories, according to you?" answered Green.

"To destroy the evidence about their involvement in the explosion in the Badlands?"

"It’s what most people think, but it doesn’t make sense. About the attacks themselves, they just show everybody that they are the ones who did them, and not that they are involved in the explosion in the Badlands. And if Testsuch have clues about their guilt, then it is already too late, too many people already have access to this information. It makes no sense for them to attack the labs. So there is obviously another reason."

"Maybe their reasons are good?" suggested Shauna.

"Even if they are, they attack people." countered X. "The man’s ice attack this night could have killed Tierno. They are dangerous."

"X is right." pointed out the Viridian Gym Leader. "And if their reasons were good, shouldn't they speak to the police or some form of authority, instead of doing that?"

Shauna only answered with a sigh, but Y could clearly see in her that she was thinking something like, " _ And we live in a world which is regularly saved by ten or eleven-year-old children instead of these authorities, so maybe they don't trust them enough _ ". 

And she had to admit that Shauna was not completely wrong.

Green ignored the reaction of the Furfrou stylist, and continued:

"The most important thing to do right now is to determine their goal and their motives. With them, we can predict their next moves and stopping them would be easier."

"That’s a nice and completely correct deduction from you, Mister Viridian Gym Leader!" a man’s voice with an Unnovian accent came out of nowhere, that X and Clemont quickly recognized.

"You!" said Clemont. "You're the man who was in the lab last night!"

In the frame of the door, the strange punk man the two boys met previously appeared. In the daylight, his punk appearance, with his piercings, his spiky pink hair and his red eyes were brought out more. And it clashed all the more with his formal clothes. From his clothes last night, he kept only the white coat lab. The black t-shirt is now a formal and strict white shirt with a black necktie. His gray jeans was gone and in its place was dark business pants. 

"Yes, it's me! You’re more important than what I thought!" he looked at the group with an annoying smile and answered.

"At the lab?" frowned Y.

"Yes, he fought them with us but disappeared just after." said X. "Who are you exactly?"

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself!" said the pink-haired punk. "The name's Edward Beadle, Head of Office in R&D, at your service."

"I’m not the only one who didn’t understand what he meant with his title, am I?" asked Shauna.

"No, you're not. What does that mean?" answered Y.

"This title is really bombastic, isn't it?" laughed Edward. "It means that I am the man who leads the science branck=h in Testsuch."

The faces of the different people in the room soon showed the same expression; a disbelieving look which only pointed out the lack of credibility of the man. A punk man with a white coat is a leader of the science branch of an important scientifical interregional foundation? It makes as much sense as if Giovanni came with a pink dress to visit and spend time with Silver. How could someone like him have such a high rank in Testsuch? Even Green was sceptical. 

"It's true, it's true! I can show you my visit card and all this kind of paper if you want!" the pink-haired man quickly added.

"If you’re really who you say you are," asked Shauna, "Why do we never see you on TV?"

"I'm not good with all this public stuff, and after a little incident which happened during an interview, my wife, my boss and the leader of the public relation all forbade me to be involved in any of it, so it's one of my assistants who do those kinds of things."

In this one sentence, he found a way to still lost more of his credibility. Edward sighed pathetically. Why every person he met for the first time didn’t take him seriously? But even if they didn’t believe him, he had to speak about business with them.

"Well, well... Before I arrived, you were speaking about the motive and the goal of these terrorists, right? I may have some answers for you."

Immediately, the atmosphere became more serious. Everybody was looking at him. Did he really about know it? How could he know about that? Was he on their side?

"As our Kantosian guest has said," Edward said, "They didn’t attack because of the explosion in the Badlands. In fact, the events in the Badlands were just another protest against some of our measuring tools. And, thanks to my position in Testsuch, I may know their goal."

"And what is it, if I can ask?" asked Green.

"How to start it... The ones you are calling ”the terrorists” were originally members of our foundation."

X frowned. They were members of the foundation? Did that also mean that Korrina was also a member of Testsuch? Was it the reason for her disappearance during the last three years? He wasn’t the only one who asked these questions, as Y quickly asked if Edward's previous sentence also applied to the former Shalour City Gym Leader.

"Korrina... Ah, the blonde girl! Her case was more specific, but let me explain first... They were working on an important and secret project. For confidential reasons, I’m not supposed to tell you what it’s exactly about, but to summarize, it was about the effects of Pokémon attacks on humans. It’s notably why she’s involved in this. When we discovered her, amnesiac and supposedly died, we tried to discover if it had a link with the Pokemon attack she received, and if we could cure her. Well, apparently, it did not work fully."

"So you used her as a guinea pig?"

"No, she agreed to come with us. She was our patient, and we wanted to cure her. Unfortunately, some of the people who were working on this project suddenly left a few weeks ago. And sometime after that, our measurement tools in the Badlands were destroyed, and we discovered that our former members were behind that."

"So they attacked the foundation they just left? Did you did something wrong to them?" asked Green.

"No! But I know them. I know they wouldn’t do something like that, usually. I'm sure..." His voice weakened. "I'm sure someone threatened them, and that they don’t have any other choice but to obey. Someone wants to take down our foundation, and they’re ready to use even our own members for that. And we don't know how to stop them. And it’s also why I came to visit you all."

"The reason for your visit?" frowned X.

"My wife is Katell's boss, the young lady you met at Shalour City. You have gained Katell's trust, and it is not something everyone can do. So I, along with my wife, know that we can trust you. And we also know we can’t get out of this situation alone. It is why I’m here to ask for your help."

"So you want us to help you to stop your own employees from attacking you? And why should we accept?" frowned Green.

"Someone probably threatened them, and who knows the danger they can meet? We only want to save and help them. And for that, we are ready to use every resource we have. All of the foundation is already on that case. We also contacted the International Police, and one of their members is already on their way to come here. And we also hear of the reputation of the Pokédex Holders. You are not just anyone, and even if you have something better to do, we need help."

Edward finished his speech to lean over in front of the group.

"Please, help us!"

And then there was silence. The only sound that can be heard what the noise of the street. It was like putting a video on pause, it felt unreal. Sure, with their reputation as Dexholders and/or Gym Leaders, they did receive some help demands in the past. But they generally knew the people who requested their assistance from before. Even Green had to admit that this one was probably one of the weirdest demands he got.

But after a few moments, Y smiled.

"You know, for me at least, and I think it’s the same from some of the others, you didn’t need to ask. We already got involved in two of these attacks, and with all the questions we have to ask Korrina, there’s no way I’ll just return to Vaniville Town. Of course we’ll help you." she answered.

X silently nodded, agreeing with his childhood friend. Shauna shouted something about that if her two friends got involved in a new problem, there was no way that she won’t come with them, and Tierno didn’t take long to agree. 

"I came all the way from Kanto. Do you know how far Kalos is from Kanto? There is no way I can just come back, otherwise how will I explain the break I managed to negotiate with the League? You can count on me." Green answered while smiling.

"I’m sorry," sighed Clemont, "but I can’t help. I’m the Gym Leader from this city, and with all the damage the explosion and the blackout caused, I just can't leave now. But I’m sure you all will get to the bottom of this, I believe in you."

"Th... Thanks." started Edward. "Thank you a lot. You don't know how much this means for me! I'm sure that with your help, we’ll be able to end all of these."

"So, we agreed to help, but do you know what they’ll do next?" asked Green.

Shauna unconsciously swallowed. She knew they wanted to go to Couriway Town, but how could she say it to the rest of the group without revealing her encounter with the targets themselves? Fortunately, Edward saved the day.

"The only place where our Kalosian branch they haven’t visited yet is the one in Couriway Town. It is likely that they’ll go there."

"And how far is it from here?" inquired the Viridian City Gym Leader.

"According to the path they took, they will go to Couriway via Dendemille Town and Anistar City. And if they do so, they’ll have to take the Mamoswine Road." explained Tierno. "This road is really long to cross, they will not reach Couriway before tomorrow at midday at least. If we want to be quicker than them, we can go via Santalune City and Snowbelle City, it will be way shorter. But in any case, if we want to catch them, we should leave as soon as possible. In the worst case, we have to be gone before tomorrow morning."

"I can provide you the transport in less than an hour," added Edward. "We can leave as soon that you want. And, of course, you will have the opportunity to rest on the way, and we will provide the other things you will need, like a place to stay."

"Shauna, when do you want to leave?" asked Y.

"As soon as possible! I just need to get back to my place to get some stuff, and to visit my boss to tell him that I will not go to work for a while."

"If you want to be quicker, I can go to your boss for you," suggested Tierno. 

"He knows me, and even if I need to grab some stuff as well, I already have a bag ready, so there’s no problem," he quickly added when he saw the attempt of refusal of the Furfrou stylist. "And if we do it this way, we should be able to leave in two hours."

"If you say it like that, how can I refuse?" sighed Shauna. "So don't lose time! Hurry up, we have things to do!"

Tierno immediately left the room, followed by Shauna, Y and Clemont, who went to the front desk in order to sign the papers to leave. Edward grabbed his phone and called someone, and X could hear him asking for a minivan or a bus. And so there was only X and Green left, all alone in the impersonal hospital room. They eventually left, and sat on a bench outside. They were silent for a moment. It was not an oppressive silence, but a moment to rest, and they didn’t necessarily feel the need to fill it. But after a moment, Green finally decided to break the silence.

"It has been a while since the last time we met."

"Indeed."

"Even if the circumstances are not the best -they never are-, I am glad to be able to fight with you again."

"Me too, I am glad to have your help in this case."

"But I wondered, the last time, your group of friends didn’t have Clemont in it, right? Where did the ginger-haired boy go? I don't think I saw him since I arrived."

X immediately frowned, and Green could tell it was probably not the best way to ask about it. 

But after a sigh, the Loner eventually answered, "Of course you didn’t see him. He is dead."

"He is dead? How?"

"Three years ago, around the time Korrina “died”, he went to the Spikes Passage for some research. He worked as an assistant for the Prof Sycamore, and they received a message about a rare Pokemon who appeared, so he went to see what it was about. Do you know the Spikes Passage?"

"No, what is it?"

"It’s a rocky passage, at the top of some high cliffs. It was created by Rhyhorn racers, and even if it’s hell to cross it by walking, it’s still a really popular spot for all Rhyhorn racers. And after healing from her injuries, Y's mom decided to train at this passage. We don't know exactly what happened. Maybe Mrs Grace saw Trevor, wanted to say hello to him and lost control of her Rhyhorn. Maybe they were too close to the edge and fell. Maybe the ground collapsed. We will never know what happened that day. But later, we found their corpses in the forest below."

"My condolences..."

"Thanks... But from all of us, I think that Y suffered the most from their deaths. I mean, she just reconciled with her mother and was terribly worried for her when the town was destroyed, and after all these events, she had to lose both her mother and her friend in the same accident. Do you know that since then, she refused to go on a Rhyhorn anymore? I don't think she has completely recovered over them. She refuses to speak of it, but I know she still has nightmares of it. She says everything is fine, but nothing is fine. Nothing is fine in our lives since the destruction of Vaniville Town. After everything that happened with the Team Flare, after all the fights she had fought... It’s not fair that something like that happened to her."

After this last sentence, X realized that he had told more than what he wanted to say at the beginning, and apologized for his rant.

"You don't have to apologize for it. It is necessary to rant sometimes, to express what we really feel. Plus, you are Y’s closest friends, it’s normal to worry about the person you like," Green quickly stopped him.

X raised an eyebrow. Did the Kantosian Dexholder just suggest that their relationship was more than just friendship? He would lie by saying that it was wrong; if he likes all of his friends, Y had always been special to him. More than a childhood friend, she was his best friend, the one who knows him better than himself. And he did not know how he could name this bond. They never spoke of it. It was a special relationship that only the two of them shared. What is what people call love? He did not know. And he did not know if he really wanted to give a name to their relationship. He felt like if he gave a name to it, it will lose this special thing, and that it won’t be something only the two of them shared anymore. He eventually did not refute Green's suggestion.

"But I agree with you. Life isn’t fair. The evil teams, the accidents, the natural disaster, none of them are fair. And we can't stop everything, or rewrite the past. But we have the power to try to avoid other losses. And I think it’s our role, to recover from what we lost and to advance, even if it's hard, even if it takes time. Y is strong, I’m sure she will be fine. And even if sometimes the weight of what she lost is too heavy, you, along with both of your other friends, are here to help."

"Yes, everything will be okay." X softly smiled.

But the Loner wondered why, during his speech, his senior face get dark, and why he felt like the Kantosian wasn’t only speaking to him but also to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of this chapter: In the X and Y games, Lumiose City, somewhere in the city, there is a Trainer, a Punk Guy, named Faust, who owned a level 30 Haunter. According to Bulbapedia, his name in the Japanese version is メルド (Merde). Like a lot of Kalosian trainers, his name is based on a French word. To be exact, Merde means sh*t in French. Of course, you can see this word is kind of a rude word, and I personally find it fits a Punk Guy who lives at Lumiose City, adapted from the capital Paris, Paris which, in France, don’t really have a good reputation, notably due to the rudeness of their inhabitants. But all of it is only stereotypes, of course.
> 
> In general, if you know a little bit of French, the name of Kalosian characters in the Japanese version can be hilarious.


	10. Couriway Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> ... Yes, I should have post this chapter something like two weeks ago and haven't for some IRL reasons? Ah I'm sorry! I've been super busy, and it just somehow went out of my mind, I'm sorry! Anyway, it's time to repost every Wednesday and Saturday, until the 14th March, date when all the chapter already wrote and post on other platforms would be upload here, as well than the fourteenth chapter, which is also the start of the second part! After that, I will take the same rythm than I (try to) did before, with one chapter every two weeks.
> 
> Anyway, I'll hope you'll enjoy this tenth chapter!

The cafeteria of the Hôtel du Belvédère* was like the rest of the hotel; the white and blue pattern of the old tiles, the beams from the ceiling, the artificially aged furniture, everything was made to create a sophisticated but also cozy atmosphere. The massives oak tables which followed one of the walls drooped under all the baguette, butter, jam, croissants, cereals, and every other food and drink which comes together to make a traditional Kalosian breakfast. Outside, only the cry of the Duckletts and the wings in the flight of the Swanna* disturbed the sound of the typical waterfall of the town.

Green was sat in one of the few tables, a steaming coffee in one hand, and in the other one a newspaper which spoke of the blackout, along with other Kalosian news like the measures against the electrical scooters in Lumiose City or the end of the career of a Kalosian basketball player who played in Unova*, or some from abroad, were Kalosian really interested by some shady Sinnohsian superheroes? It was late in the morning, and he was all alone in the room. It was calm and, according to him, the best moment to take his breakfast. He just regretted the absence of rice, egg or fish, but it was normal, according to how the Kalosians consider that eating something savory in the breakfast was a sacrilege.

He was about to finish his coffee when the four teenagers from Vaniville Town arrived in the room, chatting about the last Flying Trainers' contest. They looked happy, serene, _normal_ , like this, speaking about daily and normal topics. Seeing them like that, who could believe that the day just before, one of the most influential people of an important inter-regional foundation entrust them with the mission to stop terrorists? Probably nobody. He sighed. How many ordeals should they still had to face before this daily and normal conversation would not be the exception to the rule anymore?

Y was the first to warmly greet him, quickly followed by her friends. They picked what they needed for their breakfast and sat on the Kantosian table. They continued to speak, about the new TV shows, the last events of Vaniville Town, the new flavors of the Lumiose Galette. This peaceful breakfast brought a semblance of normality. But of course, it couldn't last forever, and after she finished her second slice of bread, Shauna interrupted the discussion.

"I understand that breakfast is a sacred moment, but what if we start to speak of the sore point? You know, with Testsuch, the attacks, Korrina, and all the other things around it?"

Instantly, the whole table became more serious. The Duckletts stopped doing their cries. A cloud hid the sun and reduced the luminosity in the room. It was like if Nature itself understood the stakes of the situation.

Eventually, the clouds went away, the Duckletts started crying again.

"Even if we do now have the complete cooperation of Testsuch, they let us have complete freedom of how we want to stop these terrorists. And we can't be surprised by their attack as we did during the Lumiose one. We need to be ready for everything this time," Y sighed.

"One of our main weaknesses these last days was how easily they surprised us. In Shalour or Lumiose City, we're never ready for what happened." noted X. "And, more importantly, we never got a correct answer to the situations they put us in. In both attacks, it was them who are in control of the events. For them, we were, at worst, a hitch, in best, help. We can't just continue like this."

"I just have one question," said Green. "I understand that the attack in Shalour City surprised you, nobody expected it. But you knew they'll attack at Lumiose. What had you prepared in order to stop them?"

"We firstly identified the area of the lab, and then we started to see how we can protect it," said Y. "We thought they would attack during the day, and we were preparing some possibilities to stop them when they attacked."

"So you didn't expect them to attack during the night, or to cause a blackout?" questioned the Kantosian.

"No," admitted the Flying Trainer.

"It is not surprising that they got you by surprise, then. You simply underestimated them," sighed the Gym Leader.

His tone was not accusing, or angry. It was simply an assessment. But the observation still hurt. They had failed. They had failed, and it was _their_ fault, because they underestimated their opponents. Of course, they had thought of that before. They asked themselves what would have happened if they could've predicted their actions. But they'd only thought of it. Hearing this assessment was painful. It only highlighted with an immensely vivid highlighter all the mistakes they did. And it hurt.

But Green didn't let them have time to self-pity. First, because it brought nothing good, second, because they simply didn't have the time for that. If the terrorists were able to attack the lab in Lumiose City only two days after the one in Shalour City, then they could attack at any time.

"Then tell me, what were your mistakes in the preparation of the Lumiose attack?" he asked.

"We thought that they would not attack during the night, and not as soon," answered X.

"Why did you think that?"

"Except Korrina, they all had accents from other regions. We thought they didn't know the city and that they needed time to identify the area themselves before the attack."

"It's an assumption we can't make anymore. They surprised you because of that. And they are former members of Testsuch, they probably already know the area and the laboratories they attack. What else?"

"We never had a proper plan?" suggested Y.

"Exactly. You never fully agree with what to do when they're running away or when you encircle them. You are friends, but you didn't train with each other for a long time, and you need to renew the ability to fight like a group and not like different trainers who fight without co-operating with the ones on their side. And knowing that you can count on your friends when you fight, letting them do what they have to do, will make you win precious seconds, and it is essential to winning. And we also need to avoid cooperation problems like what happened between Garma and Y."

The blonde girl grimaced. The memory of the Pokémon of her closest friend attacking her was definitely something she would rather forget forever. She had lost so much time because of that, and allowed Ama to run away without difficulty. 

Seeing his best friend uncomfortable made X frowned. He did not exactly know why Garma had acted like that. Maybe because he was too proud, or maybe he confused her for the enemy. But it had a lot of consequences. He had to fix it as soon as possible. He didn't want to see the grimace on the Flying Trainer's face anymore. He will do everything he can do in order to protect her smile.

Green disrupted their thoughts by saying, "And what else?"

The group stared at each other, but they didn't have the answer, and Tierno had to admit that they simply didn't know.

"Just one question," sighed Green. "Did you take the time to rest between the two attacks? Do you have proper sleep for more than one night since the beginning of all of this?"

Shauna and Tierno looked at X and Y. The guilty expression which appeared on their face clearly showed that no, they didn't really rest, and gave all their time to the pursuit of the terrorists. 

The Kantosian Dexholder sighed. It was so predictable. And a very common mistake. If he had learned one thing from all his year to fight, it was that the speed of reaction and the reflex of both the Pokémon and Trainers were often determined in a fight. If the reflex of a Trainer were slow because they were tired, then the Pokémon would be less efficient in the fight, and would more likely lose. 

"When you are tired, you lose efficiency. When you are less efficient, you will more likely be surprised, do not know what to do, and lose. In our current situation, we can't let this happen. You firstly need to rest. Sleep, take a nap, read a book, watch TV, but just rest."

"But you also said that they probably already know the labs they attacked," frowned Shauna. "It means that they can attack at any moment. We can't just rest and let them have more time!"

"You misunderstood me," responded Green. "I said that if we want to win, we had to be at the best of our capacities and to rest. I never said that we need to lose time and not be ready for the next attack."

"So what do you suggest, you who knows everything?" said the Furfrou stylist sarcastically.

The Viridian gym leader ignored the sarcasm.

"We can alternate. Organize some shifts. When some of us are looking for them, the rest can sleep and gain energy. Like this, we can rest and prevent the next attack at the same time. This is one of the advantages to work in a group, you know? And when an attack occurs, we can contact the ones who rest, and be at the best of our capacities." Green answered, with a tone which shows that for him, it was one of the most obvious things ever.

"It sounds good, we should do this!" smiled Y.

The rest of the table quickly agreed. It was for sure one of the best strategies to have in this kind of situation. But it was also one of the ones people keep forgetting, because they just wanted to prevent themselves from every possible attack, even at the price of their health.

Sometimes, it was good to have someone like Green on their side, who can keep their cool in nearly any situation. But the euphoria of the group was not meant to last, and soon, Shauna identified a new problem.

"It is a good idea, for sure, but I have a little with the "contact the others" part. In the action, we may just do not have the time to take our Holo Caster from our pocket, search for everyone in our contacts, and call or send a message to everyone. Like this, we may simply lose both time and them! Without speaking of the possibility that we might be attacking or have been taken hostage and that we simply don't have access to our Holo Caster!"

Green did not know if he should congratulate the Kalosian girl to notice all the flaws of the plan before he could explain how to transform them into advantages, or smash her for the same reasons. He chose the peaceful solution.

"In that case, we can simply transform this problem to an advantage. Instead of sending a message, a lack of communication can be a signal that we are attacking. For example, the ones who are on shift have to contact the others every ten minutes. We can use an app, the kind of apps which are used by the parents to control their kids, to automatically send an emergency notification on the Holo Caster - or Pokégear - of the others, with the coordinates of the ones on shift. We will know then if there is a problem and can meet you as soon as possible. And even if you move, there is, again, some GPS apps that allow us to follow your position at every moment. Does it answer your question, Shauna?"

"It did," she answered in a whisper.

The silence came back in the table. Green did not seem to want to add anything else, and was enjoying his coffee. The four Kalosian friends stare at each other awkwardly. Now that the Kantosian was here, they have lots of advantageous help, but at the same time, they had the feeling that all of this was going out of their control. They were the ones who started to look for these terrorists, they were the ones who fought them when nobody else could act, they were the ones who wanted to find the answer of all the mysteries around these attacks, and now they had to let the grandson of Professor Oak decide everything? Even if they knew that he had more experience with this kind of things than them, and that he was probably right in his way to proceed, they can not help but feel that it was unfair. But what could they do against it? By the past, they had failed twice to stop the attacks. Green was currently their best chance to conclude all of this as soon than possible. But, again, it felt terribly unfair, and they had this bitterness about the situation…

Y interrupted the oppressive silence by asking:

"So we should do shifts and patrols, right? So who wants to start?"

"I will," answered immediately Green, with a tone that clearly indicates that he will not let the patrols begin without him. "Who wants to come with me?"

"Me," smiled the Flying Trainer. "I feel really energetic today, I need to move, to go outside."

X could not help but sense the lie in her voice. She was still tired. She still had bags under her eyes. There was no doubt that she had experienced another nightmare while sleeping, and that she just wanted to have something to keep her mind busy and don't think too much of this. He sighed. How long will it continue? It couldn't last forever, right?

"So I and Y are taking the first round. Shifts that are too long would not be good, the best would be probably to split the day into four parts of six hours each. It's going to be 10:15 am, so with the time to finish eating and to prepare ourselves, we should be able to start the first round at 11 am. The next one would be at 5 pm. Who wants to take it?"

And like this, the group continued to plan their next moves, even if a feeling of frustration slowly and silently grew inside the Kalosians. But soon, the first two people to do the shifts had to leave. And the three others eventually followed them, letting the cafeteria empty, with their old walls which became the silent witness of all the plan of the group.

* * *

On the central plaza of Couriway Town, a board said that the East Kalosian town was "a town connecting differences". The person who once came up with this sentence, was he speaking of how the waterfalls connected the mountains and the ground? Was he speaking of how the station was connecting the little town to far away regions? Or was he simply speaking of how the differences between people seemed to be erased in this peaceful and little town? Y did not know. But for sure, one of the most oriental towns of Kalos was charming. The indescribable and refreshing scent of the river filled the streets. The grasses moved in rhythm with the wind. Even if the station wasn't that far, the sound of the train that just arrived seemed far away. Everything was calm, normal, like it should always be.

But Y knew that this peace would soon be troubled. As soon as the attack on the laboratory would start, there wouldn't be a place for calm or peace or relaxation anymore. But before that, they could only wait and keep an eye of what happened in the town.

But instead of worrying too much, Y preferred to enjoy the atmosphere. While looking around for potential bad-guys-who-attack-laboratories, she could not help but notice how the conditions were perfect for a flight. Maybe after her shift with Green was over, she could train a bit with Fletchy. She was still thinking of what she could do with her free time when the Kantosian interrupted her thoughts.

"This town is really little and calm."

"Isn't it? It is really charming."

"And it means that it will be a lot easier to find anything suspicious," he added.

This way to see everything in a rational way had the tendency to make her uncomfortable.

"For sure, it is less crowded, it will be easier to see them if they go out. In Lumiose City, it was like hunting the Dahu!" she said in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

Green frowned, and she realized that he was probably unaware of the meaning of this typical Kalosian expression. 

Her laugh resonated in the wind, before she explained, "The Dahu is a legend. They are like a Skiddo, they live in the mountains, and two of their legs, on the right or left side, are shorter than the other one, so they can only turn on one side of the mountain. A long time ago, it was a tradition in Kalosians towns to make the naive strangers hunt the Dahu, even if they never existed. And it became an expression about looking for something which does not exist, or for something which is really hard to find."

The Gym Leader seemed to agree with her explanation. He was about to add something else when a boy, not much older than Y, suddenly stood in front of them. His smile was charming, his eyes enclosed on the Flying Trainer's ones.

"Excuse me to bother your walk young lady, but I am lost and you will preserve me of a lot of trouble if you agree to help me." he asked her in a perfect Kalosian accent.

"Su... Sure..." stammered the blonde girl. 

How was she supposed to answer to someone like that? Even according to the so-called and stereotypical low Kalosian girls' requirement about flirting, this boy was way too much of a womanizer!

"Thank you so much, you saved my life! Do you know where is the Testsuch lab of this town?"

Y and Green felt the temperature drop. Of course, it was only their imagination, the weather did not suddenly change, the numerous legendary Pokémons who were in charge to manage the climate did not have an argument in the last ten seconds. But still, they had the feeling that the air had lost a few degrees following the question of the young boy.

Of course, they did know where the laboratory was. It was at the top of the city, near the hotel, and near the famous medicinal waterfalls. It was one of the first places they went to when they arrived in the city, and from when they started their patrol. But why was this boy asking directions for the lab? Edward had said that because of the threat of an attack, they limited their activities in the building as much as possible, and that every person who did not belong or was not an ally to Testsuch did not have the right to enter, and that they had to go to Lumiose or Shalour laboratories if they really needed something. And this boy was definitely too young to be a member of Testsuch. So why was he looking for them? They couldn't help but find him suspicious. What if he was one of the terrorists?

"I don't know" Y tried to lie... "I'm not from the town."

The boy's eyes sharpened. He was hiding something, Green was now sure of that. But what did he want? 

When he started to speak again, his voice was way more serious, and they could hear an accent, too strong to hear that he was not a Kalosian, but too light to determine from where he really came from.

"And I am sure you know. There is no way that a smart lady like you had missed something like that, right?"

"Uggh..." was all Y could answer with. 

She started to feel really uncomfortable. She glanced at Green, who nodded and took part.

"You are making my friend really uncomfortable. Leave her alone."

His tone was glacial. Everything in him showed that he did not get his Gym Leader title by drinking tea with some grandmothers. His posture was impressive. His hands were already on his Pokéball. His aura of a powerful trainer radiated around him. He was ready to fight, and he did not plan to lose. 

The boy tried to neutralize the situation, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you! I am just looking for the lab..."

"And I am sure we can ask someone else," a girl's voice came out of nowhere. 

They looked at the new arrival. Behind the suspicious boy was now standing a girl, who seemed to have the same age as him. Her accent was more present, and Green could say without a doubt that she came from Unova. In her arms, a Pokémon the Kantosian never saw before was shouting its cries at the boy, as if they were irritated by his presence.

The girl faced the grandson of Professor Oak and the daughter of the Rhyhorn racer Grace and leaned over in front of them.

"I am sorry for his behavior! He does not know when to stop sometimes."

The boy seemed to protest, but the Pokémon in the girl's arms shouted at him, like if they were reprimanded him. 

The Kantosian nodded at the girl.

"Well, next time he will not go that far. But why are you looking for Testsuch's lab?" Green asked.

The girl seemed to not know how to answer, and looked at the boy, who answered, "Sorry, but our reasons are private, I don't think you really even want to know why."

They were definitely suspicious, and Green was ready to ask more about it, when they suddenly heard Edward's voice.

"Ah! Here you are!"

But, at the surprise of Y and her friend, he did not speak to them, but to the boy himself.

"I am Edward, the man who called you about our current problem. I am sorry for the delay, I had some things to see at the lab and it took more time than I thought. Anyway, I am glad to finally meet you, mister and miss?"

"Lack-Two, Inspector of the International Police."

"Whi... Whi-Two."

Green frowned. He could not help but find these names familiar. And then he remembered. He had already heard them. Back in Kanto, when he once visited his grandfather, Crystal had mentioned them. And if he remembered what she said correctly, then…

"Wait," said him. "Aren't you two of the Unovian Dexholders?

"Yes" answered Lack-two. He was him who was now suspicious toward the Kantosian. "And you, you are?"

"My name is Green, I also own a Pokédex, along with Y right here."

"I see, you are the Professor Oak's grandson."

"Professor Oak?" asked Whi-two.

“It is a famous professor Pokémon in Kanto," answered the Inspector. "He is also the original creator of the Pokédex. But I am really surprised to see that his grandson came all the way from Kanto to this town especially. Why are you here, Mr Oak?"

"I..." started the Gym Leader.

"He is helping us with our current problem," interrupted Edward. "The same one which makes you come all the way from Unova. It looks like you already know a bit about each other, it will probably help with our task. But maybe we can speak of it at the lab or the hotel? This plaza is beautiful, but you two are probably tired of your travel from Unova, and it will be way more comfortable to speak about it around a table, right?"

And without waiting for an answer, the punk scientist led them out of the plaza.

* * *

The rise of the sun colored Couriway Town in several tints of orange, gold, and pink. The sky blended into the pond. The regular and reassuring roar of the waterfall resonated in the whole town. The inhabitants were still asleep in their houses. The first Swanna’s cry announced the beginning of a new day. A train peacefully arrived at the station.

Unlike the big cities like Lumiose City, there was really a difference between the daylight and the night and it looked so evident and simple that it became relaxing. A peaceful cycle everybody should live. It wasn't fancy, it wasn't terribly exciting, but this calm, this way to live with nature, was maybe what some people call happiness.

It made X remember some of his philosophy class. How the Enchiridion of Epictetus theorized that the detachment to external things, of what you could not change, was the clue to the happiness. How the Discourse on Inequality from Rousseau explained that the establishment of private property was the origin of inequality. And of all these other philosophers who worked on how the happiness arrived with the relationship with the others, the way you see your job, the control of your desires and the satisfaction of what we already have*. This town really reminds him of all of that.

And so did Whi-Two.

They were patrolling around the town in order to prevent a terrorist attack. They were basically present in this town only for this purpose. But she still enjoyed Couriway. She took the time to smell the flowers' smell, to speak to the inhabitants, to make comments about the city to her Foongus. She may be a bit older than him, but she had to be way more innocent than him to be able to enjoy the town that much. Or maybe it was a part of her personality to see the good part of the world. It looks like, consciously or not, she was applying some of the most basic rules of philosophy about happiness.

When he saw something like that, X wondered why there were only so few people that could do what Whi-Two was doing. And then he remembered that neither he or an important part of his friends could do that. Listening, learning and discussing philosophy was nice, but he should seriously just try to use more philosophical concepts in his daily life. Who knows, it may help him in some situations, and even maybe with all these attack situations? It would be a nice topic to speak about with Y or Green.

He let go a little sigh of annoyance. He had to focus, and not be distracted by his thoughts. It was not the moment to think of philosophy or something like that. But he could not help but relax a bit. It had been a few hours since the duo started to patrol, and the least one can say was that the task was exhausting. 

Like in a lot of little Kalosian towns, street lightning did not work all night and was not even present in every street. It became ridiculously easy to hide in the shadows and to prepare a surprise attack. The terrorists had already proved at Lumiose City that they could use the time of Cresselia and Darkrai at their advantage. During the night, they had to be more careful than ever. Consequently, the two of them had to stay for a long time near to the lab, illuminated only by Salamé’s flame, and scrutinizing every shadow, trying to detect an attack. 

But nothing came, which only increased the pressure, the fear to miss something important, essential, vital. With the first rays of the sun, the tension eventually went down. Now that they could see what happened around them, they could patrol around the town, and fear the possibility of an attack less.

But like during the night time, they had to continue to watch everything, to search for something that was unusual, even a detail. To always be careful and ready for the worst.

At least, it was what Green and Lack-Two had told them to do.

And it bothered X. With Y, they were the first ones to investigate it, the ones who were the more involved in it, and they suddenly had to let the lead to these two? It didn't feel right. It didn't feel fair. It only felt like a constant reminder of their previous failures.

Even if, according to Y, the first encounter between Green and Lack-two was disastrous, once they arrived at the hotel, they quickly agreed with each other's ideas and decided on a strategy to counter the next attack without even consulting the other members of the group. After looking at them, it was obvious that they were not used to work in a group, or that they were the ones who lead and came up with the plan, allowing the others to only obey. The inspector eventually gave his approval to the patrol strategy, and X had to take the last shift of the night, along with the Unovian girl he did not even know the day before.

Sure, he did understand the logic behind their strategy of patrols. He did understand that it could work. But inside him, his instinct was shouting at him that something will not work as they expected, that the terrorists already guess their plans and that they had to do something else in order to stop them. 

But what could've he had said? Neither the Trainer or the Arrestor would listen to him. After all, he was the one who failed not only once, but twice, to stop the attacks. Did not it mean that his intuition already betrayed him twice? So why should they listen to what he had to say now?

He let out another sigh. He didn't know what to do anymore. And because of all the patrols, he couldn't really catch his friends and speak with them about the situation. Their group had grown but he ironically felt more alone than at the beginning of their journey in Vaniville Town. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Whi-Two, who did notice the young boy.

“Are you okay?”

In her arms, her Foongus let out a little worry cry. Was it because he was worried about X’s sighs or for his trainer? The Kalosian had no clue about it.

“I am, I guess...”

“When people add “I guess” at the end of their sentence, they generally lie. What is the problem?”

X sighed again. He didn't know her, what was the point to speak to her about what he thought of the current behavior of Green and Lack-Two? She probably agreed with them. But still, he did feel comfortable around her, and before he realized it, he was already letting out his thoughts.

“It is just that with everything that happened… I mean, Y and me were the first ones to work on these attacks. We were probably the closer ones to catch them, or even to simply understand their motives. And now, Green and Lack-Two came and decides everything, with only the goal to catch them. Even if Korrina is among them, they don't even try to understand why they are doing that. And inside me… Something telling me that this way to take the situation is wrong. I feel that we need to understand them in order to stop the attacks. That we can’t stop it like that. But it's probably stupid, isn’t it?”

“I understand you,” smiled Whi-Two.

“Didn’t you say that only by sympathy?” asked him suspiciously, raising one eyebrow.

“Of course not!” answered the young girl immediately.

She looked uncomfortable before she eventually sighed.

“Did you ever heard of Team Plasma before?”

“If I remember right, it is an organization from something like five years ago in Unova, right? But aren’t they disbanded now?”

“It is complicated, but kind of… The first goal of the Team was to save and protect Pokémons who suffered because of humans. At least, it was why the major part of the members signed for. But the founder, Ghetsis, was corrupted and wanted only the power… Team Plasma eventually ended up doing evil things and was considerate like a criminal organization. At this moment, the ones who wanted to follow the first goal to save and protect Pokémon and the ones who still wanted to follow Ghetsis split up, giving birth to two different teams with different goals. But even if the ones who were loyal to the first goal were fighting the other ones, everybody kept seeing them as criminals, and they all had to hide. Nobody tried to understand them, and even if they have tried everything they could in order to stop Ghetsis, because nobody tried to understand them and because they had to hide, they couldn't prevent the plans of the other team Plasma two years after.”

“How do you know that much about it?”

“I, myself, am a former member of the Team Plasma. My point is, that before judging something, we need to know exactly their motives. And I seriously believe that if the evil is made with bad intentions, it has to be stopped, but if it is done with good intentions, it has to be forgiven. On that point, Lack-Two and I are really different. Well, I guess we are literally the opposite of each other. But I think you are right. If we want to stop those attacks, we first need to understand the reasons behind it.”

X smiled. It was really relaxing to speak to this girl. It was the first time since he left Vaniville Town that he could have a calm discussion like this one with someone, and he was glad he could finally do it. Whi-Two definitely looked like someone you could rely on. It would be nice to work with her. He wondered what could have happened if he had met her before. He started to think of a lot of different things again. He concluded it was time to focus again when he started to imagine what if he and the Unovian girl has been kidnapped by some masked criminals when they were young. He sighed again and gave a look around him.

And froze.

* * *

At the Hôtel du Belvédère, in a nice and cosy bedroom, a young girl was peacefully sleeping. The first rays of the sun did not wake her up for the moment. But her peaceful sleep was soon bothered by someone knocking at her door. It did take a few attempts before she finally woke up and open the door. 

The man outside did not wait and said, “Suit up and come out, Y. We need your help.”

“What… What is happening, Green?”

“X and Whi-two did not contact us in the last twenty minutes, and we got a call from Edward. The lab is attacked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *In the English version of the English game, the Hôtel of Couriway Town has the super original name of Hotel Couriway. I personally find this name sad, so I used the name of the hotel in the French version instead, which is Hôtel du Belvédère.  
> *I don't know if we have them in the XY games, but ducks and swans are both present in this part of France. I firstly wanted to add a Stork Pokemon because the storks are the emblem of the French region, Alsace, where is Molsheim, which inspired Couriway Town. But there is no Stork Pokemon, the "closer" one is Swanna. Also, if you think that hearing the wings in flight of a swan is impossible, the wings in flight of the Mute swan, one of the main swan species, and present in Alsace, can be heard from between 1 or 2 km? Yes, it's a lot. And sorry for this uninteresting thing.  
> *The news in Green's newspaper is inspired by real French news: indeed, at the moment when I write this chapter (In the beginning of July), as it became a real problem in Paris, the city hall had to take measures against the electrical scooters, and Tony Parker, a French basketball player who played in the NBA decided to stop his career (after 17 years to play in the USA).  
> *Too many notes in this chapter, right? About all of this philosophical stuff, I only mention it in this chapter, but I can only advice you to read the books I mentioned, and to interest yourself to all these philosophy notions. They may look boring, but they are actually really interesting, and allow you to see the world in another way. Also if X speaks of philosophy class, it is because we do have it in France. Well, only during the last year of high school, but we do have it (from 3 to 8 hours per week depending on your major). Even if X is still too young to have this class, I like the idea that he already attended it.
> 
> Fact of the chapter: The name of my OC Edward Beadle who appears in this fic come from the names of two geneticists, Edward Lawrie Tatum and George Wells Beadle, two geneticists who received a Nobel Prize for showing that genes control individual steps in metabolism.


	11. Sunrise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> Today's Saturday, so here a new chapter! Hope you'll like it~

X remembered an old proverb of a man, Liu Yiqing, from a region terribly far away, "Rinsing one's mouth with a stone and laying one's head on a pillow of flowing water", or "Soseki Chinryu" in their original language. Over the years, the meaning evolved, and eventually ended up speaking of someone who was stubborn and acted the opposite of what people expect. One thousand and four hundred years after, a famous Kantosian novelist, inspired by this sentence, decided to use the first word, "Soseki", as his pen name.

He actually didn't know this sentence because he had read the book of Yiqing, or because he was interested in the Kantosian novelist. Actually, he first heard this sentence in an anime he had watched a while ago. An art student who could paint the face of Natsume Soseki perfectly was kidnapped by a gang of counterfeiters so he can help them counterfeit 10 000 Pokédollar notes. The main character, a high-school detective stuck in the body of an elementary-schooler, was asked by his classmate, the younger brother of the kidnapped man, to find him. He eventually found the counterfeiters' hideout by remembering the sentence which inspired the novelist; if you are a criminal and do not want to be caught, you could, like in the proverb, do the opposite of people expects. After all, who would ever think that the newspaper office, neighbor of the police station, would be actually a gang lair? Not a lot of people.

Back at the central plaza of Couriway Town, while he was looking around, X had froze. Coming from the north entrance of the town, acting like everything was normal, a group of people arrived. Unlike the other time he saw them, they looked less in a rush, even if they walked at a flexible and lively pace, and more concerned about themselves than about their environment. They probably didn't expect to meet someone at this early time of the day, and it was probably what saved them. When Whi-two wanted to speak to them, he grabbed her wrist, his forefinger in front of his mouth doing the universal sign for asking silence.

Because even with a still imperfect luminosity, the Kalosian Dexholder did recognize them immediately. They were finally here. It was now the time for the third battle between them.

The terrorists had arrived in town.

He, along with the former Team Plasma member, first hid behind a bench. Which was a terrible hiding place. They were lucky that nobody noticed them. 

The young girl did not take long to ask him, "Is it them?"

"Yes."

"We should contact the others..."

And while she was manipulating her strange watch, he remembered this old proverb. Doing the opposite of people expects. He remembered the talk he had earlier with her. Following his instincts, try to get their motives. And then he had an idea. A terrible, dumb idea. If Green or Lack-two were here, they would say that it was both stupid and suicidal. But he felt like, at this time of the day, it could work.

But if he wanted to apply his idea, he had to be quick. And he could not wait for the answer to the rest of the group.

He told his plan to Whi-two. Strangely, she agreed to follow him. It was a simple and irrational idea.

And surprisingly, it did work well so far.

In the anime, the criminals were not caught sooner because they hid where nobody expected them to do, they acted in an illogical way. He was just repeating their reasoning. In this situation, everybody would expect from them to hide in a safe place and warn their friends, or to face them, or maybe to follow them. This last option was the most dangerous, because the risk they could be caught was really high.

And it was the one they had chosen. They even decided to get really close to them, in order to try to hear them talk, to learn more about them. At this moment, they were maybe at ten meters of them. And it was at this moment that X applied his crazy plan. They still had to not be caught by them.

The low and dazzling sun was their best ally at this moment. After all, who would expect them to use the backlight to hide? It was a dangerous plan, after all, if one of them looked at them long enough to recognize them, everything would be over. But looking towards the dazzling sun was painful, and none of them looked at the duo long enough to see someone else than two young people hanging out, maybe going home after a busy night, or returning home from work.

They crossed a wooden bridge, and started to climb the hill of the mountain. On top of it were both the hotels and the laboratory. Unlike Lumiose City, there weren't many ways to escape. Actually, there were only two paths: the one they were taking right now, and jumping in the waterfall. But without knowing Waterfall, it would be difficult to survive the jump. And if you didn't have the two sole Pokémon who learn it naturally, you have to find the HM or teach it, which was clearly not a piece of cake to do. It was pretty safe to assume that they didn't, but as Green and Lack-two had said, you had to be ready for everything.

When they arrived at the surrounding area of the laboratory, they eventually stopped. The Dexholder duo continued to walk, only to turn at the next street and try to eavesdrop on them. The group of terrorists all glanced at Ama, who silently looked around. When his eyes arrived toward them, he frowned, and without hesitation, he walked toward them. A few seconds after, he was in front of them, his arms folded, and his face was showing an expression of annoyance. 

"You again?! I already told you to leave us alone! Why do you keep following us?" He asked, a bit angry.

"Why do you keep attacking the labs?" retorted X.

"It's none of your business!"

"You are doing that in our region, with someone we do know. We are involved, actually."

"No, you aren't. The man from the last time does not come from here."

"Neither do you. Are we really planning to continue this childish play? I think you know we will continue to follow you as long as you keep attacking Testsuch."

"You know nothing about what is happening."

"You are right. We know only Testsuch's and civilians' point of view. It would help us if you tell us what is your motive, for example."

"I can't."

This last sentence was pronounced reticently, but was unequivocal. They will not get this information easily. But X couldn't help thinking that there was a deep reason behind his refusal. In Ama's way of answering, X could feel the anger, the sadness, the resignation. It somehow made him remember his behavior before the events with Team Flare, when he was trying to cut all links he had with his friends and Pokémon. He thought it was in order to protect them, but it resulted only in hurting all of them. They refused to ask for help, and it only caused a vicious cycle. If he was able to get their motive, to help them, to break this cycle, maybe it will end all those attacks, these suffering. 

"What you're doing is not the solution. I am sure you can find someone to understand and help you!" Whi-two eventually spoke.

"It is not that, it's..."

"Calm down, everybody."

Toki came from behind Ama, a gentle smile on her face.

"I'm sure you only mean to do what you think is good, but your interventions didn't help at all." She continued.

"But we can help you, if..."

"It is not that we refuse help, but the fact is that every person who will try to help us will suffer. And this story already caused too much sadness. It is something only we can end."

"If you are speaking of the attack, yes, you are the only ones who can stop them."

"And it is not what we have to end. It is far more complicated. And in order to do that, we have to continue those attacks. But you can still be spared from this suffering."

"Your reasoning is completely twisted, do you realize it?"

X's eyes were looking at Toki's ones. She held the eye contact. Once again, he found sadness and resignation in them, even if she didn't have Ama's rage. He became really curious. To be honest, he didn't fully get Edward's explanation about Korrina. He had already spoken of it with Gurkinn. If she was really one of their "patients," why did the hospital declared her dead? It was not logical, there was something more, something he didn't know yet, something that may explain the whole situation.

Toki eventually closed her eyes, and sighed:

"Who knows?"

Near to him, he could see Whi-two opening her mouth. She was about to say something when suddenly, a voice came from nowhere, "It is them! Catch them!"

On the other side of the street, a man with a Houndour showed from nowhere. He wore a dark green uniform, the same ones the security service of Testsuch did use. X internally swore. If he had more time, he may get more answers, but because of the man's very bad timing, he could not ask any more questions.

"Blackie!" yelled the security man to his Pokémon, pointing at the four of them. "Bite!"

The Dark Pokémon started to charge them without hesitation. And it was pretty obvious, with his trajectory, that he didn't plan to take only Ama and Toki down, but also X and Whi-two. Foongy, still in his trainer's arm, immediately classified the black dog as a threat, and reacted. "Clear Smog" soon invaded the space. X could saw only the cloud of smog. 

Near him, Ama cried "Run!" 

Toki added, "Grab my hand!"

And Whi-two asked where X was. It was complete confusion, and because of the lack of space, he could not call Salamé, his only Pokémon who could disperse the smog. He suddenly felt a hand taking his and pulled him away, running out of the street. Suddenly, they fall on someone else, and ended up on the ground.

At this moment, the smog was finally dispersed. He could see that Toki was looking at him in confusion, still grabbing his hand. She most likely mistaken him with Ama. Whi-two was also on the ground, and he realized that they accidentally pushed her. Around them, the man with the Houndour was now with some of his colleagues and encircled them. There was nowhere to run. 

One of the security guards yelled, "You're surrounded now!"

They didn't wait for an answer. They started to fly, and X did quickly saw the culprit, a Kadabra. He heard a gasp, and soon, Toki started to struggle in a useless attempt to get free. Everything in her was showing a deep and primal fear. He tried to speak, to say that he was actually with them, but at the very moment he started to speak, one of the men ordered him to shut up. And while they were brought to the laboratory, he could only internally curse.

* * *

As soon than Green told her that there was another attack and that they had no communication from X and Whi-two, Y fully woke up. She pushed the Kantosian out of the room, dressed in less than one minute, and joined her friends on the corridor. The Arrestor and the Trainer were already ready and waiting for them, while Shauna and Tierno were still missing. Nobody spoke. Only the morning sounds from outside and Lack-two's fingers furiously tapping on a device on his wrist. She stopped herself from running toward the lab with difficulty. All their strategy about the patrols and the communication was supposed to make them win time, but the fact that they weren't able to be separated from each other without consequences made her feel like they were only losing more time.

After a long, a very long minute, her two childhood friends came out from their rooms, under the irritated eyes of the Kantosian.

"They are already at the lab. Let's go."

The group left the hotel within a second. Outside, the dazzling sun was still in part hide behind the horizon. The grass under their feet was slippery because of the dew. She did not care. She just wanted to go to the laboratory, to check if X was okay. Hopefully, their goal was not far and they were soon in front of the building. It did look like the other buildings of the town, in a typical East-Kalosian style, with walls in timber framing. It was beautiful, but it was not what caught her attention. On the first floor, a window was broken. It was more likely than the terrorists got inside the place from there. She scanned her environment, but everywhere she looked at, there was nobody there, they were all alone. There was no sign of either X or Whi-two.

The International Police Inspector didn't waste any time looking for someone. As soon as he determined that there was nothing interesting around them and that their enemies were already inside the building, he abruptly opened the door before entering the laboratory. She followed him, along with the others. They arrived in a little hall, with walls covered by papers and flyers. Once again, it was completely empty. Near to her, Shauna asked:

"Wasn't there supposed to be a bunch of guards and some scientists looking around? Why is there nobody?"

"Indeed," answered Lack-two. "I had checked on the security protocol they had put in place. There should be some people here. Except if..." He did not continue, lost in his thoughts.

"Except if what?" exhaled Y. "Do you think they have taken people hostage?"

She started to worry. Where was X? Did he already face them? Was he okay? What if he was used as a hostage? But the Arrestor stopped her in her hypothesis.

"It is unlikely. And the guards would have moved only if the hostage was someone important like Mr. Beadle. But I think they all left to catch them in their true goal."

"The true goal?" frowned Tierno.

The policeman sighed, irritated. He was probably thinking that they understood nothing.

"Their true goal, the place where they have to go to get what they are looking for. There is nothing interesting in a hall like this, they have to go somewhere else." 

He stopped speaking for a few seconds, before suddenly asking Y, "When you were trying to stop them at Coumarine and Lumiose City, did you see what they were doing where they were?"

"Not really... At Coumarine, we were looking for them inside the building, but we did not find them until we looked outside. And at Lumiose, X and Clemont found Ama on the first floor, but he was alone, he was probably only there to distract us. And X also said he didn't see the others, but it was completely dark because of the blackout..."

"Did they see a light across the windows from outside?"

"They did not mention something like that."

"They are underground," the officer concluded immediately.

Shauna, with an irritated tone which showed that she was tired of being out of the reasoning, asked, "First, since when there is an underground? Second, how do you know they are here?"

The Unovan boy walked away, checking the different doors, knocking on the walls and the ground, and answered with an annoyed tone, as if he was speaking to a child who didn't understand something easy, "At Coumarine, they were inside the building. If the terrorists were near to them, they would have heard them. But what proves my reasoning is what happened at Lumiose. It was completelyblack because of the blackout. If they were looking for something, they need a light or night vision glasses. When you faced them, they did not have those glasses, even though it was still really dark. So they didn't have other choices than bring a light. But X and Clemont saw no light across the windows, which can only mean that they were somewhere where there were no windows. If they were above ground, even if what they were looking for was in a room without windows, they would more likely have to go by a corridor or other rooms which have a window. The only solution that nobody saw a light from outside is that they were underground."

"But the plans of the different laboratories did not include a basement!" refuted the Furfrou stylist.

The sight from the policeman was degrading, and Y felt bad for her friend who had to suffer from his wrath.

"The three laboratories are important enough to be attacked, and they do scientific research. Even if it may only be to store their equipment and samples, there is no way they do not have a basement. And if you listen to a little bit, you will notice that on some places, when you knock on the floor, it rings hollow."

The Flying trainer saw her childhood friend shrink, red from shame. She addressed a dark look to her Unovan counterpart who ignored her. He may be intelligent and know a lot of stuff, it was not a reason to look down on them! Did he realize that he was only hurting the feelings of his teammates? Even Green, who enjoyed his company at the hotel, started to feel uncomfortable! How they were supposed to work as a team with someone like him?

The Viridian City gym leader finally sighed and ordered:

"Look on the rooms for an entrance to the basement."

The group split behind the different doors. The Kalosian Dexholder followed Shauna and Tierno to a room. As soon that they entered in, the young girl erupted with wrath:

"But who do you think he is?! I agree he may be a super policeman with super intelligence and powers, but we do not all have the same knowledge! Does he ever know what the words "getting along with someone" mean? Ah, he is so annoying!"

While yelling the last part, without caring if the object of her anger did hear everything, she abruptly banged the floor with her foot. At this moment, her face went of anger to surprise. She dropped her eyes, along with her two friends, to see that her leg had literally stabbed the worm-eaten parquet. She pulled her limb, and watched across the hole. Under them, they could see a room with rock walls. Shauna looked at her two teammates, and nervously laughed:

"I think I may have created an entrance..."

"Go looking for the others!" immediately added the blond girl, smiling. "Tierno and I are going to extend it so everyone would be able to get in."

The blond girl grabbed the planks and, with the help of her dancer friend, she started to take them out. When the rest of the group arrived in the room, there was a respectable pile of parquet near to them, and the hole was big enough to allow everybody to easily enter in it. Lack-two did not lose time, took out a gadget he called Variable Rope from his pocket and created a link between the two grounds. He put the rope on the hands of Shauna before jumping easily to the ground. When he saw the look the other gave him, silently asking the utility of his action, he simply shrugged his shoulders:

"It is not that high, I do not need it. I don't know about you all, it's all."

With an annoying sighed toward the policeman, Y jumped without the rope and caught herself perfectly, soon followed by Tierno and Green. She looked at Lack-two with a defying air, rose her chin and said:

"Learning to fall is the first thing we learn when we are Flying trainer, we are not as weak then you seemed to think."

"I do not think you are weak, I think you are slowing me down by acting like this, it is not the same thing."

"If we are slow because of our teamwork, it is sure that your attitude has something to do with it!"

The boy looked away. He did clearly not caring of the reproach of the Kalosian girl. He started to walk toward a door when the other side of the rope fall on the ground. Shauna voiced resonated:

"Hum, guys? I think I'm going to need some help."

Y facepalmed herself mentally. She was an idiot! With what happened to her friend wrist during the Lumiose attack, it was sure that she could not ask too much from her leg, and that she could simply not jump from that high all by herself. The Unovan Dexholder quickly helped her, not without looking at his counterpart from Kalos, with an "I told you so" air. She clenched her fist. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat again.

She could not lose her cold. Not now.

Not when she had to find X.

She took some distance from the group, trying to calm down. Being angry at him was the worst thing to do at the moment. She looked around. What she firstly took from a room was actually a corridor, sculpted directly on the rock of the waterfall cliff. The white neon lights gave a cold and surgical aspect. She supposed it was normal to find that on a laboratory, but she could not help to feel uncomfortable. It was too clear, too quiet, too cold, and it looked too artificial. There was a lack of life in this place. 

For her, it was natural to be on the air, where she could watch a lot of life and color. And it was unnatural to be in this corridor. She breathed once again. Why all those kind of stuff had to happen in a gloomy place like this one? It looked like people did not have any imagination when they build a laboratory or a den. It should be a job, to be an interior decorator for official and organization building or laboratories, so it did not look so dead.

Suddenly, a door caught her attention. It was made in iron and clearly solid, created to resist a lot of things. She could bet that it was bulletproof, pokemonattackproof, and resistant to a lot of other situation. It was deep, several centimeters wide. On the wall, the dark screen of a high-tech enter code reflected her intrigued face. It was definitely a solid door, which had to protect something.

It was shy it was even more surprising to see it forced.

The keypad of the enter code had been freezing by an ice attack. The handle dangled pathetically, out of their originating place. The tiny opening showed only darkness.

She did not hear a sound coming from here, but she preferred to be careful. She called the others. Better safe than sorry. Like before, as soon then he arrived, Lack-two took the lead of the operations. Like in the detective drama, he put scientifical gloves on and slowly and carefully opened it. The inside was totally dark. Of course, the officer had the solution to every situation, and soon a torch in his hand lighted the room.

The furniture's fragments scattered the ground. The four walls were covered by scratches of different depths. On the ceiling, two neons had been destroyed. It felt like a scene of a horror movie, one of those the Pokéstar studio was fond of. With the exception of the Unovan boy, and maybe Green, the group was reluctant to enter in it. What could have happened here? Did those marks appear because of a fight? A Pokémon? A monster? 

Those kinds of rooms made irrational fears surfaced. Sure, the room was now empty. Sure, they were not alone. Sure, with their Pokémons and their skills, they could defend themselves. But still, this place was frightening. They looked around them, unconsciously ready to see something unexpected suddenly coming from the shadow. It was worse than during the blackout at Lumiose City. At the capital, at least there was the familiar urban sound on the streets, and by opening the window or going outside, you could feel the refreshing breeze of the night. Here, in this gloomy and dark place, trapped between the rock walls, you could only felt prisoners of that darkness, like if they were trying to submerge, possess, destroy you.

Shauna dared to speak, her trembling voice lugubriously echoed on the room:

"It... It looks like there is nothing here... Can we leave?"

"No, there is something" answered, condescending, Lack-Two. "They came here, forced the door, and destroyed the furniture and the light. This is the only door forced like that, and it is also the more resisting door of the whole corridor. This door had to have a utility, so there was something important here, something they probably stole. But you are right, we should leave. We may find proofs here, but the more important is still to follow and caught them. The ice on the enter code did not even start to melt, it means that they are not far. Let's concentrate on the capture for now."

And without waiting for anyone, he left the room. The rest of the group immediately followed him. While she was crossing the door, she looked back a last time. Crouching on the ground, Green was using his hand to check the floor, as if he was looking for something. The Flying Trainer asked:

"You lost one of your belongings?"

"No, I think I saw a glint somewhere around me... Ah, here!"

He victoriously got back on his feet, holding something on his hand. When he eventually went to the corridor, she could see what he found. It was a brown crystal, like she never saw before, with a design of rock inside. She smiled to the Kantosian gym leader, who returned it to her. They may do not know where this crystal could come from, but the color and the rock pattern were not that common alone, so together... They had no doubt that they could trace it back easily. It was maybe a little thing, but it was already an improvement.

Suddenly, a scream resonated between the rock walls. They raised their heads. They did not recognize the voice, but according to the volume of the sound, the original source was not that far from them. The group did not wait a second before starting to run toward it. And while they glanced at each other, they could see that they were all thinking of the same thing:

_ It is them. _

They soon arrived in a large room, with an impressive amount of computers, shelves full of samples, piles of papers on different desks. And for the first time since they entered the laboratory, they had found people. The scientists, the guards, the executives... They were all here.

Except for X and Whi-two, noticed immediately Y.

All these people attention concentrated on one thing, and more exactly a group of people. The terrorists, minus Toki. But they were once again more than the last time, a man with black hair and a Roman nose and a girl with a face hide by a carnival mask now hanging out with them. The blond girl could not help, but find that the two hooded people had changed of morphology since the attack at Lumiose City. The man of the Roman nose had a gun in his hand, a gun that was coldly pressed against the head of a man he held back with his other arm... The eyes of the Flying Trainer opened wide when she realized it was Edward.

As soon that she saw him, she felt relief. At least, they did not have X in hostage. She forced herself to focus. It was maybe not her friend, but it was still someone she knew, and she had to save him. On her side, she noticed Green was frowning. She whispered:

"Green? Are you okay?"

"Yes, everything fine, but this man, the one who holds the gun... I am sure I already saw him before."

"Oh? Where?"

"I don't know, I forgot... Maybe a challenger of my gym, or someone I fought a while ago. But my instinct is saying he is dangerous and that we can't underestimate him."

His instinct only confirmed the obvious dangerousness of the man. He was smiling, smiling like if he finally getting what he wanted, smiling while holding this gun and pressing the barrel against the spiking pink hair of Edward. Who could smile while doing something like that? Not someone totally sane. And a person no sane was an unpredictable person. And an unpredictable person was a dangerous person.*

A little sound caught their attention. It came from Lack-two. Not too loud so no other people than them will hear, but enough to made them look at him. He pointed at the terrorists with his chin, while his hand was doing a circle. They all nodded as soon as they got the message.

They had to encircle them.

They silently started to move. Carefully, so they did not jump on anything. Silently, so nobody could hear them. Hiding behind the furniture, so nobody could see them. They had to analyze everything, to be aware of every move, breathe they made. They had to be invisible to their eyes until the very last moment, until they arrived from nowhere and catch them while they can do nothing against it. They had to be quicker than them. They had to be more crafty than them.

They had to be stronger than them at every point.

But encircling them did not forbid Y to take care of what happened near to them. The man with the Roman nose pressed his gun stronger against Edward's head, while another man asked with a sharpened and poisoned by a cold rage:

"Where is Toki? And the others? What have you done with them?"

"Well, if you want to know you can join them immediately," answered Edward with an unusual and impressive composure according to the position he was in. The man gave him a dark look, full of reproaches.

"You from everyone are the one who knows the best that we have not got that far to give up now and surrounder. Now tell us where is Toki, and the others while you are at it. After that, let us leave without problems and maybe we will not take Edward with us."

"Like if you could scare us, you..." started one of the scientists, only to be interrupted by one of the terrorists, hide under one of the cloaks:

"Don't forget that if you are not cooperative, we will destroy all of your researches. Without speaking of your samples. It will be a hard blow to lose everything again, right? Notably after what happened at the Badlands!"

Her voice had a singing and warm accent, even if only threats came out of her mouth. She could tell without a doubt that under the clothing, it was a woman. For sure, she did not come from Kalos, but where exactly? Y did not remember to have heard people speak with this accent before, except maybe some tourists at Lumiose City. But she could not remember the place it was associate on. Probably somewhere in the south, near the sea. Hoenn? Alola? South of Johto? She had no clue.

But the least she could say was that the confrontation between the two groups was violent. There was an obvious and mutual animosity, like if everyone was upset by the others? But what was the origin of this tension? Maybe it was the origin itself of all those attacks. She shook her head. Right now, she had something else to care of.

The group was now in position. Lack-two addressed a quick sign of the hand to them. Even if they did not know all the codes the International Police was using, it was not difficult to get the message. Get ready. Wait for my signal. Attack.

But instead of glaring only at the laboratory staff, one of the terrorists looked around him, uncomfortable. If the group had seen him sooner, they may have seen his hands shaking nervously. But they only saw him late, too late, when his eyes were already on one of them. Who exactly? Y did not know. But as soon than the attacker noticed them, he whispered to the ear of the man who first asked where was Toki. The reaction was immediate. He took a defensive posture, his hand already on one of his Pokéball. He yelled at the other:

"We have to get out, now! Ama, stop anybody to approach us! Oh... Alyxia, take care of the ceiling!"

Like if they had done that all their lives, they reacted before any of them could act. Y had only the time to see the cloaked woman release a Pokémon she never saw before, a shapeless beast with clawed legs. And after that, it was all over. A circle of flame soon appeared around the terrorists. The fire and the smoke hid them from everybody view. She released Croakie, Tierno called his Crawdaunt, Green and Lack-two also summoned other Water-type Pokémons, while they heard the sound of something breaking. They extinguished the flames as soon that they could. And they actually did it quickly.

But it was already too late.

When the circle of fire evaporates, they could only see an empty place, lights from the next floor illuminated it by the hole that appeared in the ceiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: Y's name, Yvonne, is typical from a French region in West France and comes from the male name Yves, that itself comes from the Celtic word Yv, which leans yew/bush. The name was mainly given during the twenties, and the average age of the Yvonnes today is around 80/90 years old.


	12. Tic Tac

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> Today, I am not going to forget to post, I am not going to post one chapter, I am going to do a double update and post two chapters! And with those two chapters, you have the end of the first part of this fic, Kalos!
> 
> The reason behind it is well... Do you remember when I told you I was cross-posting this fic on ffn and Wattpad for more than a year now? But like I now post mainly here, I decided to use the three months of hiatus I had between the end of the part one and the beginning of part two to upload everything here. But with the delays I get by forgeting to update a few chapters in time caused me a little problem: if I kept posting according to the schedule, the day I will go off of hiatus, there would still be one chapter missing here! So here we go for a double update, so when my hiatus will end Saturday, I can also post the new chapter here.
> 
> And so yes, double update, and another change in the release schedule. For the moment, I post every Wednesday and Saturday, just to catch up with the other platforms. But after the chapter of Saturday, I will come back to my normal release schedule of one new update every two weeks, the Saturday.
> 
> Long note this time, but anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this two chapters!

The sound of the ticking clock resonated in the little room.

_ Tic tac tic tac _

The walls were covered by a pastel green wallpaper. On one of them, a mirror took a notable place, and there was no doubt that it was a one-way mirror, from where someone could look at them.

_ Tic tac tic tac _

The walls were soundproof, they could hear nothing except the ticking white clock, just ahead of the mirror. On the wall in front of it, a thick and impressive iron door was closed. Without the right key, it was impossible to open it.

_ Tic tac tic tac _

A massive iron table stood in the center of the room, solidly nailed to the ground, along with the four chairs. The gray metal reflected the cruel neon light. The carpet squeaked under their feet.

_ Tic tac tic tac _

Under the table, a few chains were attached to the ground and came toward a hole in the middle of the furniture. Those chains ended in handcuffs. Handcuffs that currently restrained three pairs of wrists.

_ Tic tac tic tac _

X sighed. The silence in the room was oppressive, and even though the sound of the ticking clock was for seconds, he felt that every time he heard it, a whole hour had passed. Because this silence made him uncomfortable, he didn’t dare to speak, as well as Whi-two and Toki. What were they afraid of? It wasn’t as if the sound of their voice are able to cause anything in their situation.

He didn’t even know from when they were in this room. After the guards caught them, they directly brought them into this metal room that was way too much similar to a police interrogation room. The two Pokédex Holders didn’t even have the time to explain that they were their allies. Immediately after they arrived, they were attached with the handcuffs, violently ordered to not move or make any attempt to escape, before the security men left them all alone with Toki.

In the beginning, the terrorist girl was panicking, breathing heavily, her hands agitated by jolting shivers, her eyes focused on something only she could see. Looking at her face, no doubt that it was terrifying. But the seconds of the ticking clock had passed, and she eventually calmed down. Now, she was successively looking at her hands, her Poké Balls, all out of reach, the chains and the door, with a dark look.

And the time had passed, and nobody came into the room. X wondered why. Were they too busy to follow the other terrorists to watch them? Or was there someone, behind this dull one-way mirror, glancing at them, waiting for them to start to speak and reveal their plans by themselves? Like it had always been since the beginning of this journey, it was something unknown. There was nothing worse than those unknown factors. How were they supposed to succeed if the rare factors they knew about something bring only more questions and unknown factors?

After a long, long time, Whi-two eventually broke the silence, "Isn't it strange that there is nobody around?"

"Well, they’re probably downstairs," answered Toki, surprisingly.

"On the first floor?"

"No. Underground."

X raised his head. Underground? It was important information, important enough to be noticed. Something she had let go without a second thought, but which could be a good hint for the future, if they failed again to catch them this time. If there’s going to be another attack.

Once again, an unknown factor. But an unknown factor that could become more clear, if they keep making her speak. He had to try.

"Edward said you were a member of Testsuch, but aren't you too young to be a scientist?"

"I wasn’t exactly a scientist," she sighed, a sad smile stretching her lips.

She was probably remembering her time as a member of this secret project Edward spoke about. This meant that she might be in the mood to answer their questions without holding back her words. It was the perfect time to interrogate her.

"So what were you then? Did you help them as an assistant? Or were you one of their patients?"

"Patient... I guess they can say it that way."

"That way? So it isn’t true?"

"Patients are supposed to be helped, to be healed. They did nothing like that."

"So what have they done, if they didn’t cure you?"

"Do you think I can tell you that?"

Bad. She refused to answer. She started to notice their little game. Became suspicious. They had to be more careful than ever.

"Probably not," laughed X, a little bit nervous. "But even if they couldn’t cure you, didn't they try something?"

"If they ever tried, the situation only got worse because of them."

"So are you attacking them only to get revenge?" he asked, revolted inside.

"It’s not right to hurt people for revenge!" Whi-two took part, frowning.

"It’s not for revenge. Well, maybe for some of the others, but not for me. But in any case, we have to do the attacks, even if we despise them."

"You despise the attacks? So why do you have to do them?"

Here they go. The question they asked since the beginning of all of it. The question that was always avoided. Ama, Toki... They both said that they didn’t have any other choice other than attacking. But why? He remembered the philosopher, Sartre, that said that no matter what happens in life, you always have a choice, even if some were harder to take. Was the other possibility so horrible that they didn’t see any other option than being terrorists? 

"Because we have, simply that."

"Is someone blackmailing you? Threatening your family, friends?" asked Whi-two.

"We did receive help from some not-so-respectable people, but we are doing all of this on our own. But please stop looking for our motives, you won’t like what you’ll discover if you keep going on."

"If we discover what? That you are doing this for selfish purposes?"

Toki closed her eyes, an expression of shame tensing her face. The hand of the Liberator grabbed the Loner's forearm, her head doing a little move from right to left. Her eyes were focused on his, telling him it was time to stop. For a criminal, the girl in front of them wasn’t a good liar. 

Actually, you could even read her thoughts by looking at her expression. And the two Dexholder could see that obviously, she was facing a dilemma. She didn’t want to be in this situation, she probably never wished to end up like that. 

What had happened to her? They knew now that nobody did force them to do it. But what did this answer bring them? They still didn’t know the terrorists’ motives. Maybe all they wanted was revenge, but her face was denying all of this. 

The reasons for their acts that they wanted to hide, what was it for? She was now lost in her thoughts. She won’t answer their questions anymore.

All this little game had, once again, bring only an additional unknown factor. Something they didn’t need right now at all.

And the time started to go slower and slower. Again. Seconds become minutes, minutes become hours, hours become days. The only sound they could hear was their own breaths and the ticking clock on the wall. Once again, they played the game of waiting.

X did not know exactly how many times had happened since they interrogated Toki when she raised her head, her eyes looking around in a state of alert. Soon after, he started to hear a sound from the corridor. Someone was quickly walking outside. Correction. Several people were walking. Their shoes made a brutal and harsh sound on the floor, they probably wore military boots. Probably the security. The terrorists were way more silent. But why were the guards here? Were Toki's teammates looking for her? Were they already here?

The iron door opened, hurting the pastel green wall in a crash. A man, the stereotype of a soldier entered, ordering his Aromatisse to be ready to attack them. He approached the table, took a key out of his pocket, and without a look, opened the handcuffs. Behind him, a few of his colleagues showed up. As soon that what previously retained fell on the table, one of them caught Toki's neck, forcing her to get on her feet. She groaned in pain. 

"Hey!" cried Whi-two. "Stop! You are hurting her!"

"And she attacked us with her little friends. Shut up, little girl."

The eyes of the terrorist were looking around. The panic she had when they arrived here came back. Her body froze, her hands were shaking uncontrollably and everything in her was crying that she didn’t want to follow them. She glanced at the Pokédex Holder duo, and they could see the fear, the remorse, and the hesitation. She was hesitating? But why? Why made her hesitate? Did she hesitate to follow them or to fight back? To ask them for help? Or for something else?

They never did have an answer to this question. A few soft but halting steps could be heard outside, and before any of them could realize what was happening, Ama showed up and threw himself on the guards. He forced the man that was holding Toki to free her and get in front of her in a protective and defensive posture. He was breathing heavily as if he sprinted to arrive here. He glanced at everybody with a dark look, and started to take off one of his gloves, when his partner in crime grabbed his forearm. 

Like Whi-two had done before with X, Toki moved her head, silently saying that it was a big "no-no" to take off his gloves. Ama looked at her, questioning her with his eyes, before sighing and obeying her order.

At looking at them, it was obvious that they didn’t only share a formal relationship like colleagues did because they had the same goals. The two of them were closer than that, enough to make Ama bumping into several guards without a second thought to get her out, enough to make them understand each other without even speaking, enough to make the boy do her orders without questioning them.

A fight started in the little and tiny room. The humans and the Pokémon were everywhere, attacking everything that was moving. The frail bodies of the two terrorists could be barely seen between the group of military men that, even if they had different hair or skin colors, looked the same with their short hairs and their muscular stature. Of course, there were the Pokémon, but among the fighters, it was hard to tell who obeyed who. And the confusion reached a climax when Toki and Ama's allies arrived. With no noise, X and Whi-Two left the room.

The Kalosian started finally knowing them. They were strong enough to use a confusing situation to their own advantage. They’ll more than likely also win this fight and leave without important damages. So the two of them will have more chances to catch them if they didn’t try to attack them during the confusion, but after.

And his reasoning was right. After a few minutes, the noise started to decrease, and when the iron door opened once again, the terrorists came out, and none of the guards followed them. How could they, when ice and rocks from Pokémon attacks were restraining them on the ground? But when they showed up, X and Whi-two were ready. Each on one side of the door, blocking the corridor with their Pokémon, Foongy and Accelgor for Whi-two, and Kanga, her child and Élec for X, they were ready to fight.

Immediately when the terrorists went out, the duo attacked.

While the Unovan girl didn't even have to speak to let her Pokémon attack, X ordered, "Kanga, Mega-Punch! Lil' Kanga, go in the middle Outrage! Élec, use Discharge and don't let them go in!"

The five Pokémon surrounded the group, forbidding them to go into the corridor. They may not have the numerical advantage, but by doing this, they were surprised the terrorists, cornering them in a little space where it was hard to move freely, and defend themselves properly even more. The terrorists were good at surprising them? Correct. But the Pokédex Holders could also be good at this little game. They can also surprise their opponents.

The fight was kind of confusing, but for the first time since he left Vaniville Town, X felt like he was in command of the situation. For once, he was the one who initiated the offensive, and it was good. It was like when he went to the Team Flare lair three years and a half years ago, when after being chased by them he eventually ended up being the predator. 

But of course, he couldn’t keep the lead of the situation forever. Every wrong move could reverse it. And the disruptive element didn’t wait long before showing up and changing everything. For once, the terrorists didn’t hide some secret tricks that could take the win. X and Whi-two didn’t make a mistake and let them escape because of that.

No, the surprise came from a little girl with wild, reddish-pink hair and a long white dress. She arrived from behind the Kalosian Dexholder, a timid and scared Eevee walking on her side. 

"Where's Daddy?" She asked with a childish and innocent voice.

At this moment, X turned back, to see her, with her head tilted to the side, her large eyes fixing them with a suspicious look. The Eevee stepped backward, their ears flattened on their head. And everybody froze. Even the man who attacked Tierno in Lumiose didn’t make a move, his body tense. 

Whi-two was the first one to dare to speak.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? This isn’t a place for you..."

"I don't care! Where’s Daddy? He promised me he'll catch the bad guys today before he comes home!"

"Who is your daddy?"

"Daddy's name is Edward!"

"Edward?" asked X. The way to pronounce it didn’t leave any doubt; it wasn’t the Kalosian version of the name, Edouard, but the Galarian and Unovan one. "As in Edward Beadle?"

"Yes! It's Daddy! He's going to catch the bad guys!"

"It's not going to happen," retorted Ama.

"Are you one of the bad guys?"

"Don't play this game with me. You already know it, Ann."

"Hey!" cried the little girl, her mouth and eyes round from surprise. "Since when are you a bad guy?"

"You know the answer to this question too." Ama's voice was clearly exasperated.

"In that case, you just have to stop before all of this turns worse!"

"And you, from everybody, know that we just can't do it."

"Even if you will regret it?"

X and Whi-two looked at the two of them, surprised. Edward's daughter knew Ama? And according to the looks the others gave her, they also knew her. 

What exactly was the link between them? How did they know each other? Testsuch may have hidden some details from the Dexholders, but there was no doubt that there was a strong link between the terrorists and the foundation. At least enough to know Edward and his apparent daughter. But what was this connection? The only keys they had were the cryptic words of Toki earlier.

Not that what they have discovered would help them much.

Toki interrupted their thoughts by asking a question, "Will you try to stop us, Ann?"

"Of course! I want you to be on my side! You are my precious friends, after all!"

"And what will you do to catch us?"

"Everything I can! You doubt that?"

"No, I don't. You even involved the soooooo famous Pokédex Holders," smirked the man who attacked Tierno at Lumiose City, his eyes clearly scaring the young girl. "But we were expecting this, after all. And I swear you won't stop us easily. After all, you and all of the foundation are limited right now, aren't you?"

And with a sickening and insane, terribly insane smile, he ordered his Jynx to attack the wall with an Ice Beam, before glaring at one of the cloaked people. His interlocutor rolled his eyes as if there was a secret joke behind this glare. From under his clothing, he released a Pokémon X never saw before, a kind of grey dinosaur with blue stripes on its arms, legs, tail, and neck, and with spikes on its spine. As soon as it was free, the creature didn’t waste any second, and ran towards the wall, breaking it into pieces as if it was as fragile as glass. And even though they were on the second floor, the terrorists did not hesitate to jump.

All of this didn’t even take 5 seconds. Their opponents have quick reflexes, and knew how to work together without having to speak. Of course, X didn't simply look at this without reacting himself. One second to understand what they were doing. Two seconds to order his own Pokémon to not let them go. Two more seconds to start running. He did react. But he was too slow. He didn't anticipate their actions enough. 

He couldn’t stop them escaping the laboratory.

But he was already in action. If he could adjust his plan, then maybe...

The black-haired boy ran toward the hole and quickly looked down. Under him, the terrorists had already met the ground and were starting to leave the place. The Kalosian evaluated the height, and immediately knew that he couldn't jump from this height. He may be a good Pokémon trainer, but he's not the sportiest boy in the region, or even from Vaniville Town.

It didn’t matter. Alone, he can’t use the same path as them. But he was a Pokémon trainer. He had allies. He had friends who can help him to do what he couldn't alone.

He had his Pokémon.

From one of the Poké Balls on his belt, he released Salamé. The Charizard immediately understood the situation and why it was needed. Moving aside its tail, it offered its back to the young Pokédex Holder, gently inviting him on its back. The boy didn't hesitate. He quickly sat on the orange dragon, followed by his female counterpart from Unova. As soon that there was no risk of them falling during the flight, the fire Kanto Starter went on the sky.

The terrorists were soon targeted, and couldn’t escape the eyes of the duo. The Dexholders followed them while they were running towards the town. And while ordering Salamé to use Ember to make them slow down, X couldn't help but also looking around for the rest of their teammates, and especially Y. 

He could swear that at least one hour had passed during the time they were in the interrogation room: the sun, which only started to rise when they were made prisoners by the guards, was now a lot higher in the sky, and from their position, he could see the inhabitants had already started their daily routine. 

Which meant that, if the rest of everyone had followed Green's missing call procedure, they had already left the hotel, looking for them, and the terrorists. But in that case, where were they? Did they know the laboratory was attacked? Well, they probably knew, but did they managed to arrive in time? Did they meet the terrorists on their way on? They more likely did. But when their enemies attacked the guards, there was no sign of them. Where were they? Did something happen to them?

What if Y, or either Tierno or Shauna and Green, end even Lack-two, were blocked somewhere, injured or something even worse?

The doubt was probably readable on his face, as Whi-two put her hand on his shoulder. He turned back to see her. She was smiling, an encouraging and brave smile, a smile that told him that everything was going to be okay and that for the moment, they had to focus on their main goal, caught the terrorists. Sure, they will come to help them if they needed it, but for the moment, they had no information about it. And as the old grandparents of Vaniville town used to say, no news is good news.

But he could see in her eyes that she was as worried than him. He realized how brave she was. She had the strength to hide her doubts behind a smile from ear to ear, and to not allow herself to be distracted by them.

She was an example. Maybe he could try to be like her, just a little. To not let himself drowning because of his doubts and fears. He had already let them win during the several years he had spent in his room. He couldn't let it happen anymore. 

X focused again on the ground below him. Their opponents had reached the first houses and were trying to lose them by splitting away. But from his point of view, in the sky, the Kalosian Dexholder could see what they were trying to do. 

Sure, they were going on two different streets, but they did not split too far away, so they didn't really lose sight of the other group. And if the two of them didn't hesitate on which way to go, the rest of the group was more groping for, losing a few seconds, precious seconds, every time they arrived on a junction. And because of the little seconds, they had lost the advantage of speed, as the duo on the Charizard was now far quicker than them. 

Actually, if Salamé didn't slow down a little, they would've gained several meters from them, and they were only waiting for a space large enough so they could land safely. And finally, from the sky, the dark-haired boy could clearly see where they were trying to go.

The plaza of Couriway Town. Where you can have a beautiful view of the waterfall. From where you could take three different paths to leave the town. The more logical one, route 18, if you want to go to the next city. The more modern one, the train station, if you want to leave quickly for a farther destination. The more difficult and surprising one, the river and the waterfall, if you wanted to use nature as a natural obstacle for the ones following you.

X quickly eliminated the river. There were too many, and not everyone could learn and use Surf. He had heard stories of trainers taking days and days to master this attack. The chance that all their eight enemies knew it was really low. 

Only the route and the station remain. The two were possible. At this time of the day, route 18 was not crowded, and if they went to the Terminus Cave, if they knew the different routes of it, they could lose X and Whi-two. 

And from the sky, the Loner could see two different trains at the station. The terrorists could easily get on trains and leave for a destination far away. Sure, they could warn the train and station staff and the authorities, but he started to know them, and he was sure the terrorists would easily get past them.

With a little feet gesture, he indicated to Salamé to accelerate and land on the plaza. They didn't even have to wait a minute before the first group of terrorists arrived, and less than three minutes for them to be complete.

The Flame Pokémon was enough to completely block their way, with his wingspan. The place between the end of the streets and the Dexholders was large enough to contain all their opponents. They had already proved that they were good at fighting in small areas, as they did back in the interrogation room. 

Their goal, with this maneuver, was not to make them surrender without a fight, they know the terrorists enough to know that they won't give up without a fight. But by doing this, the boy from Vaniville Town hoped that they won't split like before, or escape him and Whi-two.

He knew himself and Whi-two weren't in the best position. With both of their teams combined, they only had eight Pokémon, one for each of their opponents. And even if trainers didn't always have a full team, it was more than unlikely for the terrorists to have only one Pokémon each person. 

Not to mention that they were only two teenagers fighting a group of eight terrorists. They didn't have the advantage. But even when the Dexholders had it, back in Lumiose City, they lost and let them escape.

So what did they have to lose this time by beginning the fight? Nothing.

Whi-two was the first to speak, with a timid but determined voice, "You won't pass us, so please just stop!"

"Little girl, you should come back home and hug your mama, not come here and walk into the lion's den," the man with the Roman nose, the one that attacked Tierno, smirked once again. "Just don't complain if you get hurt, okay?"

Toki glared at him, and X didn't doubt the meaning behind her look at all.

Control yourself.

Ama also made a warning face, before declaring, "Everything could be a lot easier, you know? Just let us leave with no more obstacles, please." 

If the beginning of his sentence was said gently, the end was clearly punctuated by irritation and threatening. If they didn't let them escape peacefully, they will start a fight. And they won't go easy.

But once again, what did X and Whi-two have to lose? They weren't afraid for their lives, and with luck, this fight would have a chance of being successful.

"Sorry, but Kalosians just don't like making things easy," X sighed for an answer, shrugging his shoulders. "Garma! Confuse Ray!"

The ghostly light invaded the space, delivering their confusing effect. The few Pokémon of the terrorists were already looking around them, trying to figure out where their Trainers, their allies and their foes were. 

And even without speaking about their Pokémon, the humans directing them were tottering, the attack affecting them as well with some welcoming vertigos. But even with his balance problem, Ama's hand did manage to reach one of his Pokéball, and a bull with three tails came out.

The Kalosian Dexholder recognized it as the one that attacked them in Lumiose's laboratory, and could now identify it as a Tauros. He frowned. Tauros was a Normal-type Pokémon, so none of Garma's attacks will work. The Wild Bull Pokémon also had a reputation of being fast, avoiding it would be hard, and he would only succeed once or twice, no more.

But it did not mean that he had no chance. Admittedly, Tauros was a powerful Pokémon, with a terrific charge, but it wasn't invincible. It had actually two weaknesses. Firstly, once it started attacking, it couldn't change its direction, no matter what. Second, during its charge, it's unable to stop until it hit something. Which meant that X could take him down.

"Take Down!" cried Ama.

"Marisso! Vine Whip!"

The green creepers invaded the ground, endangering Tauros's run. As soon as one of its hooves hit against one of the plants, it'll trip and the charge will be over, and X will be able to cross it out of his list of opponents to worry about. 

Suddenly, an Ice Beam attack arrived from nowhere, and instantly froze the plant, which broke as easily as glass at the contact of Tauros. The wreckage from the former attacks squeaked under it as it swooped on the Chesnaught with full force. 

The Spiny Armor Pokémon stepped backward near its trainer, its shell dented by the charge, its face grimacing in pain. Its eyes looked at X's, and the black-haired boy could see that it was still able and willing to fight. But he didn't even have the time to breathe before another Ice Beam attack hit Marisso, making it fall on its knees. 

The Kalosian boy looked at his opponents and could see the two Pokémon responsible for those Ice-type attacks. On the left, near to a girl with a carnival mask, a Glaceon was growling at them, its fur bristled, while on the right, next to Toki, an unknown Pokémon, a kind of blue snail, agitated its tentacles. 

He realized at this moment that a few more Pokémon had appeared, and that Whi-two and he now had to face about twenty of them, not counting the Trainers. It felt ridiculously unfair, an eight Pokémon versus twenty Pokémon fight, without even speaking of the fact that he didn’t even recognize some of them. The accent of some of the criminal group was definitely from other regions, which meant that their Pokémon companions did probably came from the same place. He didn’t even know their types, or the moves the Pokémon could have. And this feeling of weakness was terribly frustrating.

Foongy used a Clear Smog attack, but a Butterfree dispersed it by simply moving its wings. The Unovan Dexholder's Accelgor charged the foes with its fast speed, but a Machamp blocked it with one of its hands before throwing the Bug Pokémon away, as if the Shell Out Pokémon was only a piece of trash for it. They could still fight, but Accelgor was already injured, and although he knew Whi-two wasn’t a bad fighter, X could feel her beginning to panic. He didn’t hold it against her, after all, who wouldn’t panic a bit in a fight like this?

Well, Lack-two will probably be as calm as if he was only drinking tea. Green would too. But X also tensed. Their enemies were strong, and they had the advantage of numbers. With this fight, the duo of Dexholders would probably only slow them a little bit.

But maybe the little amount of time they’ll win will make the difference. Maybe it’ll give time to their allies to arrive. Maybe it would be the thing that’ll reverse the whole situation. They just had to win enough time...

An Onix encircled them, its long stony body forbidding them to go escape, while two Pokémon consisting of Lucario, Korrina's partner and another one, attacked them from both sides, creating an Aura Sphere between their arms. The effects of their combined attack were disastrous. 

Accelgor was able to take it, but it had difficulty standing up, and it was clear to everybody that he will be out of the fight at the next attack. Marrisso wasn’t in any better condition. And even though they weren’t as gravely injured as the other two, the rest of their Pokémon did receive damages as well. The only ones who weren’t affected by the Fighting attacks were Garma, its type being Ghost-type protecting it, and Foongy, the arms of its Trainer saving it from harm.

X and Whi-two didn’t even have the time to completely get back to their senses when a deformed and monstrous shadow attacked Accelgor with a Fire Punch. The Shell Out Pokémon was thrown back several meters, and when it finally reached the ground, it didn’t get up. It was now out of the fight, if it wasn’t healed. Unfortunately for them, neither the Loner and the Liberator had a Pokémon with a healing move, and they were too far from the Pokémon. If they tried to get to it and use a Potion or anything that could heal it, they’ll simply give all the opportunities to their opponents to attack their non-directed Pokémon freely.

Now, there were only seven Pokémon in front of the criminals.

For the moment, the most dangerous Pokémon in front of them were the Ice-type ones, with their Ice-Beam. If they could eliminate them from the fight, it would be a great relief. He counted at least two Ice-type Pokémon in the area, a Jinx he previously saw at Lumiose, and a Glaceon that somehow looked familiar. There was also the blue snail, but he didn’t know if it was really an Ice-type Pokémon, or if it just knew an Ice-type move. The trainers did often teach moves of other types to their Pokémon, after all.

"Salamé, fly in the sky and use Incinerate!"

The Charizard left the ground, its mouth already full of flames. As soon that it had gained enough fire, it let the attack go. The fire was disastrous for the Human Shape and Fresh Snow Pokémon, and their burns will make their attack weaker, which was good. But the blue snail didn't look damaged by it. 

The black-haired boy didn't doubt that the Pokémon was resistant to fire, maybe it's a Water, Rock or Dragon Pokémon. A Water Gun move from it confirmed X's fear, and the Flame Pokémon, in an attempt to escape, had to land on the ground. Its Trainer tried to tell it to go somewhere else, to fly, but the water did lead them to a specific point. 

As soon that Salamé's feet reached the ground, an Octillery, which was only a few meters away, used an Octazooka move, followed by a Shock Wave from the unknown gray Pokémon he saw at the laboratory. The Charizard couldn't take all the attacks, and fell to the ground, unconscious. 

With this loss, there were only six facing twenty other Pokémon.

They won't be able to do it.

They're going to fail, fail miserably, flooded by all the enemies.

After that, the time seemed to cut, as if the cruel seconds that were way too slow back in the interrogation room decided to go faster and faster. 

The exact same Pokémon that took off Whi-two's Accelgor attacked Marrisso with the exact same attack. The Chesnaught, already weakened by the previous attack, succumbed to this one.

A Sleep Powder was used to send Garma to sleep, who couldn't wake up in time before it fainted from the several Shadow Balls the injured Glaceon sent it. Even if the Ice Pokémon was soon after unconscious because of the pain of the burns, it had enough time to make serious damages. 

Rute could not fight back as it received a mix Ice Beam and Fire Blast moves, and difficulty managed to place a Storm Throw on the Jinx before it joined its partners on the KO part of the fight.

Now, the duo of Dexholders only had three Pokémons left on their side. Kanga and her child, Elec and Foongy. 

And there were still many, too many of their opponents in front of them.

X ordered to Elec to use a Wild Charge move. Even if he did receive a quarter of all the damages, what did they have to lose now? 

The Discharge Pokémon did cause damages in their enemies, but a Bone Rush attack from one of the Lucario finally interrupted the charge. 

Kanga, angry, tried to use Outrage while Li'l Kanga intercepted the foe's attacks with Mega-Punch, but they were drowned by the masses. 

Foongy did a series of Clear Smog and Giga Drain, but it was already too late to try to save anything. 

Even if the fight didn't end officially, they already knew the answer. This battle didn't even deserve its name. The duo of Pokédex Holders couldn't even truly fight back. They had only been spectators of this beating. It had been a long time since the last time X lost like that in a fight. Powerless, useless, bringing his Pokémon only pain in a fight that was lost before it even started.

Somewhere, inside him, he couldn't take it. Maybe it was a result of everything he had endured since they started this crazy quest. The helplessness in front of their constant escaping and the criminals' overpowered Pokémon. The frustration of not understanding what was really going on and what had happened to Korrina. The tiredness of all those sleepless nights. His irritation about the behavior of Green and Lack-two. His worries for his friends and Y.

He couldn't leave with a defeat.

It couldn't end like that, not after everything they had been through since they left Vaniville Town.

He couldn't accept the result of this fight.

He had to do something. He had to act. He had to make the result of this confrontation to change.

He had to.

He had to!

The time seemed to freeze. Some people would say that it was ridiculous, stereotypical, but at this moment, X had the feeling that the seconds had slowed down. That suddenly, he could see everything that was happening, he could analyze everything. 

He could not help his Pokémon anymore, they will be out of the fight in the next seconds. But there was something he could do to not make this encounter an absolute disaster. There had to.

Suddenly, he had an idea. A crazy, reckless idea, but an idea that maybe would work. Maybe...

At the surprise of both his opponents and Whi-two, he started to run. His feet were pushing the ground away, trying to get as many speed and run-up he could. He buried his head in his shoulder and crossed his arms in front of his nose, in an attempt to protect himself from what was about to happen.

With all the strength he could get from his charge, he bumped into one of the so-called terrorists, both of them plunging into the cold water of the river.

The change was startling. After all the noise and the screams of the battle, the world around him eventually became completely quiet. In this early hour of the day, the water was still cold, and he started to feel numbness in his fingers and toes. 

The liquid slipped between his clothes and his skin, in his mouth and his nostrils. His legs and arms were heavy, too heavy to move properly. 

All the excitement and adrenaline from the battle had vanished, and there was only tiredness left in his whole body. He didn't have the energy to fight back, to go against the gravity that was bringing him down, to defy the abnormal weight of the man he had brought with him under the water. 

His eyes burned, the river water becoming thousand of needles that were piercing his eyeballs. And then it was his nose and his throat that also started to burn. 

As he could watch some air bubbles running to the surface around him, he realized that he had lost his breath. The liquid that invaded the inside of his body was aggressive, a cruel acid that was destroying his organs from the inside. But he didn't have the energy to try to swim, to get out of the cruel water. 

The weight of the one he pushed was, as a punishment of his reckless action, bringing him to the bottom. His arms and legs refused to swim. He started to lose his thoughts, the information of his senses soften as if a cotton ball was surrounding him. A cotton ball fully soaked with water. A deadly cotton ball.

The world around him started to fade into blue and black color stains. The forms around him did not exist anymore. 

Water was simple. She didn't care about how hard human lives were, what problems they had to fight, the numerous problems of their society.

Water was beautiful. Source of life, majestic, hypnotizing the men by her beauty. 

But Water was also cruel. She didn't care about what was good or bad. She simply takes, takes away what she wants, and nobody could fight it back. 

Yes, Water was majestic, and you simply couldn't live without her, but she's always winning. It wasn't the man that took the River, the Sea, the Ocean, it was them that took the man away. They who could give life or take it back as easily as breathing.

Suddenly, toward the cotton ball that was blurring his senses, toward the mess his thoughts had become, he could feel something. Touching him. Grabbing him. Bring him to the light, to the surface. To life. A stain of dark blue and yellow, moving easily in the water. 

They arrived at the surface. Violence. Nausea. His chest was hurting him at the rhythm of his catch, the pain invading his whole body. 

Pain. The liquid was climbing from his stomach, his esophagus, his mouth, and he spat out, no, vomited, water, too much water for his body. 

Lost. Was the water cold or hot? He could not tell. But it was for sure as aggressive as acid for him. 

Dizziness. The sky, the earth around him was spinning and twisting, his ears were full of a horribly high-pitched whistling. 

Relief. Yes, he was hurt by his coughing, the water that was coming out burned him, he couldn't understand what was happening around him, and his arms and legs were still heavy from exhaustion. But he was free of the water. He could breathe. He was alive.

His senses came back. His eyes focused, and he could distinguish his savior. A Greninja. Y's Greninja. Croakie. Croakie was here. 

He could hear someone, no, several people running, when some others were shouting something. 

At first he couldn't get the sound, but as soon as he could, the first thing he heard was her voice. Y's voice. Full of worry, of fear. Was he responsible for that? Was he the reason why she was afraid?

The Ninja Pokémon brought him back to the wood platform, somewhere were his feet could finally touch something solid, something safe. 

But he didn' have the strength to walk, to stand up, and even with the support of Croakie, he fell down on the ground. He couldn't move. His body was shaking and shaking and he didn't have any control of it. 

His breath was still painful, hurting him every time he inhaled or exhaled. 

The planks under him vibrated as Whi-two, Tierno, Shauna, and Y ran in his direction. When they arrived, the warm arms of his more precious friend immediately grabbed him. 

Her grip was strong, muscled by her years of training as a flying trainer, grabbing him in a way he could not escape. Not that he wanted to escape. He was safe, in her arms. 

When Water was cold and cruel, Y was warm and protective. 

She was mumbling something, saying something about him being an idiot and that she had been afraid, terribly afraid of the idea of losing him.

X weakly smiled, "I was worried about you too, you know..."

"But I didn't jump into the river with a criminal! What were you thinking?" Her grip became stronger. "You are such a selfish idiot, X!"

"I'm sorry," he mumbled for an answer, so low that no one around him did hear what he said. No one except Y apparently.

"Don't apologize, you moron! Just never do that again! You idiot!"

He eventually realized that his friend had been hugging him for the last minute and, his cheeks red as a tomato, he tried to put distance between them, to stop something that would become awkward afterward. But Y didn't let him escape.

"Don't dare to think that I will allow you to run away now. Not after your stupid jump!"

"I agree!" complained Shauna, her eyes threatening the Loner. "Even if we could capture one of them with your dive, it was totally stupid and foolish and insane, you idiot!"

"One of them? You mean-"

"Yes, the one you pushed in the water, we managed to save him from drowning and he's too weak to run away." the Furfrou stylist sighed angrily. "But even though Green and the foolish inspector are trying to follow and capture them, I'm afraid his teammates had managed to escape us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: all the Pokémon described as unknown from X's point of view are Pokémon you can't find naturally in the region of Kalos or difficult to get (notably for the prehistoric Pokémon) that I consider they are unknown for X.


	13. Terminus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, the second chapter of the day-

The sun rays warmed X's face. He frowned, moaning because of the inconvenience, before slowly opening his eyes. The room's curtains were not dull, and at this time of the day, they did not protect at all from the outside light. Which was certainly a shame. The boy was tired. Groggy. Sleepy. He looked at the alarm clock. 4 PM. Why was he sleeping at this time of this day? His senses started to come back. He tried to move a bit, but the stiffness made him stop. His body was so heavy. His muscles had no strength, they were full of tiredness and pain. And if it was only that! Breathing hurt. At each inhalation, exhalation, his nose burnt, as if a poison Pokémon had decided to live in his nasal cavities. His saliva had a nasty taste, and he felt nauseous. He tried to close his eyes, but the pain was too intense, and even if he felt that he had to sleep, he simply could not.

He sighed. So it was that? He was not really surprised that his body itself was giving up. Those last days, he had run, fight, travel, and even if he got some rest, it was apparently not enough. He had ignored his physical health, and now he had to pay the price of it. And jumping in the cold river as he did a few hours ago, it was too much to handle. Or was it only a few hours ago? Did he sleep a few hours or a whole day? He had no idea. He knew only that he was tired, and that his body hurt, hurt as it rarely did before.

With an expression full of pain on his face, he tried to sit down. Once. Twice. Thrice. He finally succeeded. At this moment, he convulsed, his chest agitated by retching. He difficultly retained a nasty liquid to come inside his mouth. Pause. Inhale. Exhale. Calm down. Inhale. Exhale. Focus. It took a few minutes, but the nauseous feeling slightly disappears. He still felt bad, but it was supportable. Now, he had to try a perilous task.

Try to stand down, and leave his bed.

No matter how many time it would take, he had to try. Even if he had to decompose every one of his movements. Even if he had to stop every time the pain would be too much to handle. Even if the nauseous feeling kept coming at random moments. After a long moment, his feet finally touched the ground. He just had to leave the bed, to stand up...

As soon that he was up, he was seized by dizziness. His legs were shaking, and as soon that he tried to make one, only one step, his limbs gave out. The ground came closer and closer to his face, and if without his reflex which clung to the night table, he would have fallen miserably on the ground. But everything comes with a price. In this case, the glass vase on the furniture item landed up violently on the parquet. The water stretched out, soaking his feet. The wet flowers were miserably standing in the middle of it, their petals gently flapping. The sound of the broken glass still resonated in X's head, giving him a bad headache, and making his nausea to come back. He had to go to the toilet, because he was sure that if he stayed here, an accident will quickly happen. His legs were shaking even more violently than before. Would he arrive at the toilets safely?

Suddenly, the door opened, and Y appeared, yelling :

"X! What are you doing?"

The young girl immediately ran on her side, following by his friends. Green, Lack-two and Whi-two stayed on the corridor, looking him from far. If the young girl looked uncomfortable, the two others just seemed neutral about it. Of course, from his position, X could not see the little frowning of the Kantosian Gym Leader, the only sign of what he was really thinking. On the other hand, the International Police Inspector was lost in his thoughts.

But the Loner did not have the time to think about it, as his childhood friend reprimanded him :

"Why did you tried to get out of your bed so early, you X-diot! You need to rest!"

"I had to go..."

"To go where? You literally passed out after what you have done! And apparently, you did not get enough sleep, because you just fell on the ground!"

"But I..."

"No! Listen to me! Didn't you realize that we were X-tra worried for you you X-diot!"

The eyes of the young girl gleamed. They were full of worried. Her expression... It was awful to see that on the face of the person that meant the most on the world for him. Was it his fault? Was he the one that caused so much worry to his friend? He did not mean it, he never wanted it to be like that. He had just followed his instincts, and he became only a source of trouble. He tried to speak:

"I..."

But it was too late. The nauseous feeling decided to come back at this moment. He raised his hand in front of his mouth. He had to go to the toilet. Now. But he did not even have the strength to walk away from the room. Without speaking of the fact that his friends in front of him were involuntary blocking the door. Tierno eventually noticed his face and said:

"You know, I don't want it to look like an X-cuse, but I think X does not feel that well... Maybe we should bring him to his bed?"

"Toi... Let" corrected the black-haired boy with a rough voice, before another nausea obligated him to shut up.

"Oh..." realized Y. "Sure! Let's go!"

With a disconcerting strength for a girl of her age, she took him on her arm, as a princess, and quickly brought him to the bathroom. As soon that he finished what he had to do, she helped him to clean himself and come back to his room. Even if he still felt tired, he could not sleep anymore, and the group decided it was the perfect time to have a little meeting around his bed. After a heavy silence of a few minutes, he asked:

"What... What did happen to, you know..."

"To the man you pushed on the river?" interrupted Lack, scathing without really meaning it. " We captured him and Testsuch's guards brought him to the authorities. Apparently, he will be interrogated about his friends before he goes to jail. Anyway, except if he gives interesting information, it is not our role to know more about it. We just have to arrest his friends, that's all."

"And what about the others?" continued the Loner.

"Unfortunately, they managed to escape" answered Green. A little bit of frustration appeared in his voice. "The time Lack-two and I made up for them, they had already jump in a train, and... Well, we could not continue to follow them."

The Inspector's eyes were directed to the Gym Leader with a clearly appearing reproach. The Kantosian maintained his look, not at all disturbed by the invisible argument the two of them silently had. Eventually, the younger one looked away, sighing with irritation and annoyance. To the silent question the others silently asked the first Pokédex Holder, he answered with a silentious but firm expression. He would explain what was going on, but later.

Once again, a heavy silence took place in the room. This time, Shauna was the one who decided to break it:

"So a lot of things went wrong again, right?"

"We managed to catch one of them, so everything did not go wrong" objected Lack-Two. "Even if it could have been better, it still gave better results than what you have done the last two times"

"Are you kidding me?" exploded the Furfrou stylist. "Because I don't remember that you are the one that caught this guy! You did not let us participate in a single time and it finished the exact same ways that the last times! We only caught this guy because X pushed them on the river in a cow-boy style!"

"I let you participate, I am not responsible for your incompetence." answered coldly the boy.

"You know it is not what she means by participate", interrupted Y, visibly angry. "You did not let us make a single decision or even just a proposition! All you did was to say "Do that", "Look here"... But you don't seem to understand that we are not your subordinates! If you can't even adapt a little bit to our way to work, it will probably be way more efficient if we just work without you!"

"You two..." started the Unovan Dexholder, but Green's voice was louder.

"You are right. Some of us, and I think I can include myself in it, wanted to control everything, without thinking of the others' ideas or even feelings. And it is sure that it affected a lot our teamwork. We could not even get along together, so working together? We did forget that side of the problem, and it probably cost us a lot in this battle. Teamwork is not something you improvise, but something you have to work on before, and if there is tension inside the group itself, there is no doubt our enemies would take advantage of it."

"So what should we do?" asked Lack-two, coldly.

"Maybe... Maybe we should take in count all of our strengths and weaknesses?" submitted timidly Whi-two. "I mean, for example, I am not too good in attack, but I can support you with healing or use status moves. And Y can fly, so maybe she can analyze the situation from the sky and help us to know what to do... It is just an idea but..."

"It is a nice idea actually" agreed immediately Green. "We thought of ourselves as individuals first, and we did forget that we are part of a group right now. We have to adapt to each other, and the idea to give roles depending on what you are good in is probably the best way to create something efficient. But it will ask us to work on it, to train together or to fight against each other a lot..."

"We can still do it on our way to Unova" sighed the Inspector. "It is our best option for the moment, so let's go for it."

"Yes, let's do this!" smile Shauna, before realizing something. "Hey, wait! Why did you say "on our way to Unova"?"

"We did not mention it?" frowned the boy. "The train they went on, it was a train for Unova, without a stop before the terminus. And like all of Testsuch's Kalosian laboratories were taken down, they will probably start to target the Unovan ones. So we, or at least Whi-two, Green and me, are going to follow them. What about you?"

"Of course we come too!" immediately shouted Y. "We are the ones that are following them since the very beginning, there is no way we stop now!"

"And if Y-ey and X-ey are in it, there is no way Tierno and I don't come too" smiled mockingly the stylist.

"You know it will work differently, right?" said the Arrestor. "You could maybe do as you pleased because you were at home, but this time, we will be at  _ our _ house, and you will have to follow  _ our _ rules."

"We know, we know... But you can be sure that if we feel that it is needed, we will not hesitate to do as we want to" smiled Y.

"You are such an annoying group..."

"If we all go to Unova" added Green, "I think it may be a good time to ask for help. With Lack-two and Whi-two, there is two other Pokédex Holders in Unova, right?"

"You mean Black and White?" asked the Liberator. "I can call them for you, if you want..."

"It would be nice" agreed the Gym Leader. "But I was also thinking of other people, like..."

"The Holders from Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, right?" interrupted the inspector. "If I remember right what I read, you are close to them, right? It will probably help a lot if such powerful trainers can join us in this quest. At least, it will reduce a lot the number advantage of those guys, or even inverse their luck."

"Yes, I will contact them, but I do not doubt that they will come."

"If you say so..."

"Ah, also!" suddenly shouted Y, like if she remembered something important. "It does not really have a link with the other Holders, but Green and I found something really strange during the attack, I think it may belong to them."

"You speak of this strange crystal, right? I still have it in my pocket. I tried to figure out what it is since the attack but I did not have enough time to make research on it."

At this moment, the very first Pokédex Holder took out the little crystal. Illuminated by the sunlight, the rock sign in it was clearly visible. The whole group examined it. This brown jewel was a total mystery. The drawing inside was precise, simple but sophisticated. The artisan that worked on it surely had spent several hours on their work. But in that case, would they not add a necklace or a bracelet? And why choosing a crystal of this color? Blue or pink colors were more popular. Why did this person choose a brown one?

Shauna eventually realized what it was, as she exclaimed:

"Hey! Isn't that a Z-Crystal?"

"A what?" frowned X, finally participating in the conversation.

"Yes! I saw them recently at the Stone Emporium store. The seller said something like it was a crystal from Alola, that allow Pokémons to make really powerful moves. The one I saw was of a different color and with a different sign inside, but I heard there were different crystals depending on the type or even the Pokémons. According to the sign inside, it is probably a Rock Crystal, right?"

"A crystal that allows Pokémons to do powerful moves..." sighed Tierno. "It is really a technological miracle, right? How could they access to something like that?"

"Not from what I heard! The seller also told me that to get one of those crystals, you have to be chosen by the Guardian Pokémons of Alolas themselves! They decide if you are worthy enough to receive something like that."

"Worthy enough? So one of them was considered worthy enough to get one Z-Crystal?" asked Y.

"It is not only that" corrected Green. "From what I heard, the Guardians Pokémons of Alola never left the region. So it means that one of our opponents comes from Alola, or have at least live here long enough to receive such a present."

"But they do not all have the Alolan accent, right? If I recall right, I also heard them speaking with Kantosian, Sinnohsian and of course Kalosian accent." frowned X.

"They really come from all around the world, right?"

"Well, at least, if we can track down this crystal and find exactly where this one comes from, maybe we will find new clues about them." declared Lack-Two. "And if we can even only find one of their identity, maybe we can track down the other ones."

"Do you know the identity of the man we arrested?" asked Tierno.

"No, he refused to tell us. The only thing I can say about him is that he had a Sinnohsian accent and that his hair are red." sighed Green.

"Maybe it does not have a link at all with our investigation, but his body was also abnormally heavy." slowly said X. "I mean, when we were drowning, he was the first one to reach the ground, with a really large advance, and his weight was like bringing me with him, I couldn't resist it. But he was not that tall or large, right? Isn't it strange for him to be such a heavy man?"

"Maybe... But once again, it is not what we are supposed to do here" answered the Inspector. "We are just here to arrest them, other people would answering those questions."

"So do you mean that we don't have to know their motives or the secrets they have like this strange weight?" smirked Shauna.

"It will surely be a plus to know it, but our main goal is to first catch them so they will end their attacks and stop putting innocent civilians in danger. Does anybody have another question?"

A series of negative answers came from the group, and the Gym Leader ended their informal meeting:

"Everyone, and mainly you X, let's rest a bit for the moment, we will leave for Unova tomorrow morning. If everything is okay, I have a few calls to pass, so it is time for me to leave I think."

At this signal, everybody split away, taking care of what they needed to do.

* * *

_ "Message for the Dexholders, from Green. I know it had been a long time but..." _

"Red! Are you here!" shouted Blue, frantically knocking at the door of the house if the Kantosian Champion in Pallet Town. She did apparently not care that it was only 5 of the morning and that some of the neighbors started to have death wish toward the Evolver that was troubling their sleep. Eventually, her friend opened the door, only wearing pajama pants, his eyes clearly showing that he did not sleep enough, probably because of the former Masked girl. He asked, groggy:

"Blue, what..."

"Did you received Green's message?"

"What?"

"Green. Message. He did send us something two hours ago or something like that. Did you received it?"

"No! I was sleeping! And why did he send something that late?"

"Timezone. Remember, he is in Kalos right now, it is still the day for them I think. Bur well, let me summarize. There is something going on in Unova, and he would like us to come to help. And I am going to go. What about you?"

* * *

_ "You may have heard of the recent terrorist attacks in Kalos. A group is aiming for the laboratories of the Testsuch Foundation, and I know they are now going to attack the ones in Unova now." _

The trio of Johtosian Dexholders was sat on the table of Gold's house living room. As soon that the messaged ended, Crystal shut her Pokégear, glaring at her two friends. Silver finally asked:

"So, there is trouble in Unova and you want us to go here, am I right?"

"Yes. Testsuch is a foundation of our region, and if we don't stop them as much than possible, maybe the fight will finally arrive here. And if possible, I would really like to avoid that."

"So it happened in Unova, right? I heard they have plenty of good stuff as the Casteliacone..." mumbled Gold, thinking only two seconds before yelling "Okay! Let's go in Unova to eat... To stop those guys!"

"GOLD!"

* * *

_ "They are strong, and we need help to stop them. If possible, can you come to Unova to meet with us?" _

"What a shame that we have to finish this research program before we can leave for Unova..." cursed Ruby, holding a box full of the pictures of wild Pokémons Todd had recently taken.

"You're annoying" answered Emerald. "You know that we would have already finished if you hadn't spent your time trying to teach those wild Pokémons how to participate to contest?"

"But they were so pretty, they would do a really nice job in a contest!"

"Calm down, you two!" laughed Sapphire. "Let's just finish it before we leave, okay? I'm sure we can finish it in less than a week if we really work hard on it!"

"I really wonder how our juniors look thought..." sighed slightly the shortest boy.

"Let's figure that after we finished, okay!"

Those research on wild Pokémons were surely a pain for all of them.

**END OF PART ONE**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: Do you know about Korrina's Lucario list of attack in Pokespe? Probably not, but you doubt that for this fic I kind of had to make some research on it. And her Lucario is a little bit special: he know Bullet Punch, a move he can only learn by breeding with an Hitmonchan. Which meant that one of Korrina's Lucario's parent or ancestor is an Hitmonchan. Yes, this fact will really change your day.


	14. Part two : Unova - A day in Driftveil City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> Today is my birthday, so guess what? I have a present for you! Here have the fourteenth chapter of this fic, which is also the first one of the second part!
> 
> And also, a few updates concerning this fic! You may have noticed, but the last chapters became way longer than the first ones, and as I already wrote a few of the next chapters I got confirmation: because they are too long, I can’t write one chapter in two weeks, not with all my other fic projects. But three weeks or one month’s updates are too long, so I chose another solution: I will now divide every chapter into two parts (or more if one day I write a really really too long chapter) and post one part every two weeks. So today, you have the first part of chapter fourteenth for example.
> 
> This chapter is really special for me: not only it is the first one of the second part, but it allowed me to work on something I love to work on, secondary characters. You probably know by now, but I like how secondary characters are also important in Pokespe and how they are developed. And so, for this chapter, I made something a little bit special: there is no Dexholder appearing in it. So yeah, to see what happens to our favorite holders, you’ll have to wait a month, sorry. But that doesn’t mean this chapter isn’t important.  
> Anyway, after this long beginning note, let’s have the chapter itself!

The gust of wind was blowing from the sea, the blue and gold standards violently flapping under the power of nature. The most careful people would have sensed the humidity in the air, and be aware of the high possibility of rain later in the day. The misshapen waves had taken the form of monsters that hurled itself on the dark blue pillars that supported the quays of red brick. The ferry, coming directly from Sinnoh, irregularly went up and down, as if it was a panting ice creature.

After a few words to the crew, the man got off, his feet treading without care to the ground. The street lamps, useless at the end of the morning, felt lonely in the middle of this spectacle offered by the wind. 

The few people that were waiting near the red bollards were even lonelier. 

There was a woman with attached light-brown hair and a crimson camping bag way too big for her, a receptionist that tried in vain to stop the blue hat that was part of her uniform from flying away, a man with a black suit and sunglasses that would have looked cool if his wig and his tie did not compete about which one will cover most of his face because of the wind, and lastly, two waiters, with green and blue hair respectively, their white apron fluttering under their nervous hands. Their eyes met those of the man. They recognized each other as the person they were waiting for and came closer, so they could speak properly. 

The man started, "So you're Cilan and Cress? The people I'm supposed to meet here, right?"

The two former Gym Leaders of Striaton City nodded their heads, their eyes still locked on the man, analyzing him. Identifying him.

After a moment of silence, Cilan answered, "And, er, you're Byron... the Sinnoh Gym Leader that, huh, have some information for us, er... right?"

"Well, I'm not sure that I'll teach you a lot about what our concerns are today, but I do have some common interests with you!"

The tension around them lowered. By only those few words, the Trainers that were considered strong enough to deserve the honor of defending a Gym and a Badge, had recognized each other, the strength of hiding behind their smile, the self-confidence they had to possess in themselves and their abilities to get such a prestigious role.

They stayed silent for a few seconds before Cress, who started to look annoyed, maybe because of the wind, asked, "It might be uncomfortable for us if we keep on standing in the wind. What if we go somewhere else?"

"Well, I don't really know the area, especially after all the work Clay's done, but sure, I'll follow you!"

"Er, what about the, huh, outside of the PWR? It should be, er, pretty calm at this time of the day, we should be able to speak of, huh, you know..."

"Okay, let's go!"

The trio left the quay of red bricks for the street of light lemon green. The countless lights of the luxurious and impressive building that welcomed the World Tournament were nearly invisible under the daylight, but you could still clearly hear the ridiculous commercial music of the event, and some merchants on their stand tried to call out to the few visitors of the day. Meanwhile, the sound of the fountain disappeared between the cry of the music and the whisper of the wind. 

They sat in a wood bench painted in royal blue and copper. It was further back to the rest of the lively plaza, but at least they were in a relatively calm place, with a low risk to be bothered, and where they could speak somewhat freely about the reason of the Gym Leader of Canalave City's journey.

"So..." started Cress. "About the message you sent to us a while ago, what exactly..."

The blue-haired waiter never had the time to finish his question. A woman appeared from nowhere in front of them. A baseball cap from the Driftveil team, famous for being the rival of the Nimbasa City's team, hid her hair and her eyes. She was wearing comfortable and surprisingly warm clothes for the season, and some gold and gem bracelets on her wrist clanked against each other. 

She looked at them and asked, with a melodious voice that had the accent of some south islands, "Excuse me, sirs, but I wondered if you could help me a bit please..."

"Er... What do you, huh, want?" questioned Cilan.

"Well, I was visiting the city and I somehow managed to lose my group of friends... And because I never came here before, I don't know where to look... Did you see a group of people around here? With warm and thick clothes, we're all somehow sensitive to the weather."

"We didn't see them," answered Cress. "Maybe you can try the inside of the PWR? Or just come back to your hotel?"

"I already checked the inside of the hall, and I can't remember at all where our hotel is... sorry to ask you this, but would you mind helping me search for them through the city? I'm afraid they'll get in trouble without me."

Her tone was urgent, showing how much she worried for them, and the urgency behind her request. 

Byron sighed. The reason behind his meeting with the two former Gym Leaders was important, and he was looking forward to the new information he will get after this appointment. After all, it could be helpful if he wanted to fulfill his true goal. 

Was it because he has been a Gym Leader for so long, or was it just his personality? He did not know, but he could simply not refuse to help this woman. Not after hearing her voice. 

He scratched his head, a look of false annoyance on his face, as he answered, "Well, I'm not from the area either and it's been a really long time since the last time I went here, but we'll do what we can to help you. Cilan, Cress, what do you think?"

The two brothers stared at each other, questioning the other about it only with their eyes.

Cilan politely smiled, the other looking more annoyed behind him, "Er, Even if we're not from, huh, Driftveil City... we, er, know the area well enough to, huh, try to find your friends."

"It'll also help us if our guest visits the city again," added his triplet. "After all, a lot of things have changed here in the last four years."

"Thank you very much!" the woman smiled. "I know it looks like nothing, but you're saving my life right now!"

She waited for them to stand up and start walking.

"And so, where exactly did you lose your friends? Do you have any idea where they can be?" Byron asked.

"Not really... We're just walking around the city, I looked away for two seconds, and when I looked back, they just disappeared. And because they're not familiar with the city either, they can be anywhere."

"And how many people in your group?"

"Including me, there are seven of us."

The three men looked at her, realizing what they got themselves in. Finding a bunch of tourists that had lost themselves in the city? Driftveil was not as big as Castelia City, but it was not that small. Not even speaking of the possibility that one of them had a chance of ending up taking the drawbridge or going to Route 6! If they were lucky, they will find the six lost tourists quickly and all together, but if they were not, they could spend the whole day looking for them. Why did they even agree to do this?

Oh yes, because they had this thing called "responsibility". One day, they will throw responsibility far away.

The group wandered around the plaza of the tournament complex, looking around for any sign of the lost tourists. The wind continued to blow violently, but neither the woman or her three guides looked bothered by it. 

The different big screens of the main building kept switching from blue to red to yellow, the lights somehow created the atmosphere of a funfair. The merchants started to put their most fragile goods away from their display stand, anticipating the rain that will surely arrive. 

As they arrived in front of a stand full of comics about superheroes and powerful trainers, Byron exclaimed, "Wow! There are so many of these comics!"

"Yes, they're common here," smiled Cress, "notably after all those superheroes films that were produced in Pokéstar Studios. I still remember that one with Foongus Girl and Dewott Kid, it's a huge success. What about Sinnoh?"

"Well, we're more into manga than comics, to be honest..." the Steel-Pokémon specialist laughed loudly. "Even though comics seems to be more popular, for the last two years or something like that, we have our own superheroes to protect our region! I have to admit that they're pretty cool! And what about your place? And where are you even from to begin with?" He asked as he turned his head towards their guest.

"Oh, I'm from Alola," she answered. "Because of that, we're closer to Unova than Sinnoh, and we see a lot of comics in our region."

"So you're from Alola!" Byron noticed loudly. "And where exactly, on Alola?"

"Ah, I live on a very little island, you probably don't know it... And what about you three?"

"My brother and I are both from Striation City" answered the blue-haired man. "And Byron here came from Canalave City, in Sinnoh."

"I see! I never visited those places, but I heard they're really nice."

"Of course they are!" affirmed Byron. "But to be honest, I won't ever say bad things about my city because I'm the Gym Leader!"

"So you're the Gym Leader? It must've been a lot of work!"

"It is, but we get used to it after a while! And it makes a lot of opportunities to meet people from many places, so it's really interesting!"

"I'm sure it is..." sighed the woman, her eyes wandered.

"Also, er... Sorry to bother you, but, er..." started Cilan. "I don't think you gave your, huh, name to us..."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to do that!" she exclaimed. "My name's Alyxia."

"Alyxia... It's a beautiful name," the Sinnohsian man said.

"I'll take it as a compliment," Alyxia smiled mischievously.

Somewhere in their talking, they'd left the Pokémon World Tournament, with its light lemon green street, its blue and gold flags on the street and flashy lights for the grey streets and red sidewalk of the center of Driftveil City.

Some of the last vestiges of the Cold Storage, completely abandoned now, looked like old ghosts in a city where they formerly lived in. The jade colors of the hotels and the buildings created dozens of light effects due to the sunlight. A flowery scent came from the market. Probably because of the relief, the city was protected from the wind.

They continued to walk around the city, but they couldn't find any of Alyxia's friends. They're simply nowhere to be seen, and the woman refused, for a moment, to come back to their hotel in case they went back there. 

At that moment, the two brothers from the south of Unova asked her why she didn't have any communication devices, such as an Xtransceiver, a Pokégear or a Pokétch, and she laughed as she admitted that she broke her communication device a few days ago and that she didn't remember the number of her friends at all. But she still kept asking questions to all of them, curious about everything, as if she wanted to know everything about them.

Although the relief protected the city from the wind, it did not work against every weather and, maybe a few hours after they had started searching, the rain started to fall, wetting and darkening the ground, a mist slowly appearing. 

Alyxia looked uneasy under the torrents that were falling on her, she was probably not used to this kind of weather back in Alola. Though she did not say a thing, it was obvious that it was becoming hard for her to stay outside. 

After a moment, as the woman started to sneeze, which was both cute and funny, Byron smiled at her and said, "Y'know, I'm not sure your friends will stay outside too, maybe we can go to a bar and something and take a break? Maybe you might even find your friends there."

"Sounds like... Achoo! a good idea..." sneezed Alyxia, her chest slightly pink.

The four of them entered a small bar. Far away from the all-new and modern building with their shining and flashy windows, the place still had the charm of the former workhouses that once were the only buildings you could find in the city. 

As it was the beginning of summer, there was no coil of smoke that came from the chimney on the orange roof, but you could see the light from old bulbs though the little windows. The royal blue door was emphasized by the dark beige of the brick walls. There was no doubt that it was one of the last buildings of the old Driftveil City, one of the few resisting the construction project, that had to start with the destruction of what was too old, too useless, too obsolete, and the beauty they gained from years of existence was startling. 

It was the same inside. Behind a shiny wood bar, an old man smiled at them, greeting a warm "Welcome!" before going back to counting his bottles. 

The stools' red velvet seats were beautiful, even though holes and stains had marked them for eternity. A large, aged mirror with some black stains reflected the four customers, wet because of all the rain. In the background, a record player that most people may have seen only in movies was playing a legendary jazz song that the younger generation probably never heard of their whole life. Some pictures of local celebrities that came on the little store were displayed on the pastel green walls, the most visible one being the ones with Clay and their predecessor. There was no doubt that the place was old, but it was charmingly old.

The four of them took place on the stools, before ordering some beverages. 

As the alcoholic drinks were pouring inside some elegant glasses, the Canalave City's Gym Leader asked Alyxia, "So... Why did your friends and you come all the way from Alola to Unova?"

"Well..." started the charming woman. "I'm from Alola, but my friends are from other regions. Actually, it's been years since the last time I came back to Alola. Before we came here, we're in Kalos, but some incidents forced us to leave earlier than we wanted, and here we are, in Driftveil City."

"Some incidents?" frowned Cilan. "Do you mean the terrorist attacks that happened in the last two weeks?"

"I think? But to be specific, one of our friends left earlier than us and we're just trying to find him. Although we're not as efficient as we would like to be, seeing as we lost an entire group that easily..."

"Your friend, is he that precious for you?" asked Byron. "Kalos isn't exactly the closest region from here."

"This friend... He's really precious to me. We went through a lot of things together through the last few years, and as he's younger than me, I somehow feel the need to protect him. He's strong, but I'm afraid he'll do things he'll regret in the future if I wasn't not there with him..." She was staring somewhere, her eyes looking dreamy, as if she was remembering something, a tired smile appearing on her lips. "He's more than a friend, he's like a little brother to me, and I don't want to ever lose him again." At this point, her voice broke and she closed her eyes.

When she re-opened it, she was looking at Byron, and with a false cheerful voice, she asked, "And what about you? What is a Sinnoh Gym Leader doing in Unova?"

"Ahah, I am somehow like you... A few years ago, my son went somewhere, and even if it takes a lot of time, I'm determined to find and bring him home."

"I hope you'll find him," Alyxia smiled, although she looked a little bit sad.

"I try to not worry too much about it, Roark is smart and strong, and way more cautious than me, but as a father, I can't help but wonder where he is and what he's doing. But I am sure he's doing well, he's my son after all! I still remember when..."

At this moment, the blue door of the bar opened violently, and a bunch of merchants came in, looking angry and irritated. As soon as their eyes found the group, they approached the bar, trying to look menacing. Alyxia swallowed, uncomfortable, looking behind her. 

The one that looked like the leader started, "You... You are one of the members of the group that thought it would be funny to steal our goods!"

"Who steals what?" answered the woman without batting an eye.

"Don't play that game with us!" yelled a woman angrily. "You and all of your friends, you just showed up this morning at the market and robbed our products! Do you know how much money those cost?"

"Not to mention everything that came with them!" added a woman, wearing an apron with the Moomoo Milk logo. "The insurance! All the papers! You're not the one that has to fill all the documents to import goods! Don't think that we'll let you escape that easily!" 

She firmly grabbed Alyxia's wrist and tried to force her to go outside the bar with them, but the victim of her anger refused to move, trying to tell them to stop and to let her go. But the angry merchants refused to give up. 

The woman eventually shouted, "You probably confused me with someone else! I'm not a thief! Do you even have proof of your accusations? Look at me, I don't have any of your products, I'm not the one you're looking for!"

To accompany her message, she quickly pulled out the pockets of her sweatshirt, showing that she had nothing inside. But her words were useless.

A man with a black suit and sunglasses replied, "But you weren't alone! There were your friends, too! They probably hid all the goods! Tell us where they are!"

"I don't even know what you're speaking of!" protested Alyxia, powerless, a glint of fear starting to show up in her eyes.

"You do! Where are they?"

"Tell us!"

"Please, stop! I..."

"You're a bloody liar! Where the hell are they?!" 

The grab of the Moomoo Milk lady became really strong, as Alyxia's terrified face showed. At this moment, another hand, a man's hand, grabbed the arm of the merchant and forced her to release her victim.

"You're hurting this lady. Let her go!" yelled Byron with all his aura and presence he had both naturally and as a Gym Leader.

"You, stay out of..."

"I can't stay out when you're hurting someone in front of me!"

"If you help her, does that mean that you're one of her friends?" a plump man asked suspiciously. "Maybe you're also one of the thieves from this morning!"

"As she had stated before," started Cress as he took part in the argument, "we don't even know what you're talking about. And if you don't agree to speak of that with us calmly, we won't let you bring her."

"She's a thief! We saw her this morning! She even wore the same clothes!"

"Those clothes are, er, pretty common," said Cilan, entering in the argument too. "I am sure that, huh, she's not the only person that wears, er, a sweatshirt and jeans in the, huh, city. You're probably, hum, targeting the wrong person."

"You’re saying that because you're probably one of the thieves! Return our goods!"

After aggressively yelling this sentence, a blond woman released a Swanna, and the situation became more heated. 

The other merchants also called their own Pokémons, like Watchog, and soon, the four of them were completely surrounded by angry merchants and Pokémon. They unconsciously followed the reflexes that forced them to move back, but were soon stopped by the wooden counter. 

Byron looked around him, gauged his opponents, and sighed with exasperation, "Do you really want to do this? Do you even know who we really are?"

"Who you really are? Why would we even care about that?"

"So it really was long enough for people to forget us..." sighed Cress, as he released his Simipour from his Pokéball, followed by his brother and his Simisage, and Byron with one of his Bronzong.

The three men that owned or once had the title of Gym Leader confronted their opponents, were concentrating on the fight, waiting for what will inevitably happen.

The group they had to fight was made up of two Normal Pokémon; a Miltank and Watchog, a Flying-Water one with Swanna, and two Bug-types, with a Whirlipede and a Crustle. Nothing too difficult for the three of them. After a moment, Alyxia also joined the three of them, as she called one of her own Pokémon out of a Poké Ball. 

While the two triplets looked at the shapeless monster with astonishment, Byron recognized it. Although he only saw a glimpse of the Pokémon in a book several years ago as he was helping his son to pass the Gym Leader exam, he remembered it was a famous Rock Pokémon from Alola. What was their name? Lycanthrope? Lycanard? Lycondock?

The foe’s Miltank was the first to move, attempting to put their opponent out of the battle with a Rollout move. While his allies were ordering their Pokémon to move, Byron stayed silent, quietly ordering his Bronzong to not move. Not that it was a big deal, Rollout was a Rock-type move that won’t damage his partner much. He could tank the attack for his friends' Pokémon. And if he didn’t mess up, it would even bring them an advantage, an advantage that was valuable. 

Of course, Bronzong did receive the attack but was, as expected, still able to stand. 

As soon as the Miltank started to come back near their trainer, the lady with the Moomoo Milk apron, the Canalave Gym Leader smirked and ordered, "Payback, now!"

The Dark move was, of course, not the most efficient against the Miltank, but thanks to their previous attack, their power was doubled. If the foe did not fall unconscious, they were seriously injured, enough to cause them fewer problems. 

Cress did not wait for their opponents to react, as he ordered his Simipour to spray Water Gun at the eyes of Watchog, one of their main weaknesses. Even if their eyes could see into the darkness of the night, they were still sensitive to all the attacks from their environment. And as soon as the Lookout Pokémon was not able to see anything, they could not properly attack, and only a few following Water Gun moves were enough to completely put them out of the fight. 

The Swanna tried to fly to take distance from the fight and attack from a safe distance, but their wings were stopped with a Grass Whip from Cilan's Simisage. The White Bird Pokémon panicked, writhed, and was soon completely tangled in the Grass-type move, unable to even move a single feather. And before the merchants realized the loss of their two Pokémon, they were joined by a Miltank that fainted, courtesy of Bronzong.

Now there were only the two Bug-types, Whirlipede and Crustle. At least, it was what Byron thought when he turned back to look at them, getting ready to beat them. But on his side, Alyxia was already moving with her Pokémon, the one he still did not remember the name of. Her partner used a Rock Climb move, that missed the Whirlipede, but the Gym Leader could see her smile, the same one he had before he used Payback. And he was not wrong, as a Stomping Tantrum move sent the Bug-Poison Pokémon directly to the exit door of the bar, creating an opening to the rainy street. The Crustle tried a trick by approaching the Alolan Pokémon from behind, but did not stand a single chance. A surprising and quick Fire Punch ejected them, already injuring the Stone Home Pokémon. The fight was definitely over when their last opponent got hit by a Stone Edge, successful this time.

The whole fight did not even last more than a minute.

The group of merchants stared at them as fear started to appear on their faces. The four of them did just beat their Pokémon that easily. They did not have other Pokémon with them to continue the fight, and even if they did, they would probably not even have a chance to win. After looking at each other and slightly nodding their heads, the merchants ran away, mumbling something about "getting their revenge later". If they said so.

Silence invaded the bar that had been only a few minutes ago agitated by the fight. Some chairs were lying on the ground. The wood bar accidentally received a few scratches from the fight. One or two holes appeared on the floor, and Cress was sure that neither of those were here when they first arrived.

The Water-type Unova specialist slowly turned back to the owner, the old man behind his bar that was still clearing a glass like if nothing happened, but when he met his eyes, Cress could clearly see that they will have to pay for the damage caused by this fight. He sighed. How could they get in a situation as messy as this one? And he was sure that neither Alyxia or Byron could pay for it.

Since they met the woman earlier, the Sinnoh Gym Leader and the Alolan woman were only growing closer and closer to each other. Their friendship, or even their attempt to flirt, was obvious for anybody that was looking at the duo. They were in their world, their own world, and the more they spend time with each other, the more the goodbye would be difficult. And they would have to leave soon. After all, Byron came all the way here for a reason, and they would have to talk about that reason sooner or later.

And preferably before his friends arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: Although the Pokémon World Tournament is located on an island on the game, it is show to be on the mainland in the game map.  
> Yes, sorry, it’s kind of hard to find facts related even from far to the chapter-  
> See you in two weeks!


	15. A Day in Driftveil City 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> As promised, here the second part of chapter 14! Once again, no Dexholders in view, but don’t worry, they’ll come back in two weeks. Also, this one is shorter than part one (because sometimes you just can’t exactly cut in the middle and make it work so-) but that doesn’t mean this part is less interesting.
> 
> Also, for everyone who is in quarantine right now, please stay home, and wash your hands. And try to not procrastinate too much and advance your different projects too I guess-  
> Anyway, hope you’ll enjoy it!

After Cress finished negotiating about what they had to pay with the bar owner, giving him more money than he initially wanted, and wasting an overly long time of his life for something that was not his fault to begin with, he found his brother and their two guests at the exact same place, still chatting with each other. 

He gave a little embarrassed cough, instantly captivating the attention on him, and slightly sighed, “It’s getting late. Ms. Alyxia, with the rain and at this time of this day, your friends probably already came back to your hotel. What about accompanying you to the hotel before we leave for our own hotel?”

“It’s already that late?" shouted Byron, looking at his Poketch, before sighing, annoyed. "Ah, I guess it is already time to leave... What a shame!”

“I really took a lot of your time after all... I'm really sorry!” added Alyxia.

“You don't have to, er, apologize, it's not your, huh, fault” smiled Cilan. “So, er, where is your, hum, hotel?”

“It’s a little hotel, Driftveil Cheaptel, not too far from the Gym,” answered the woman. “I don't think it’s too far from here, maybe only a few minutes if you walk quickly.”

As soon as they got this information, Cress looked at his Xtransceiver, and immediately found the address, which was only three streets away from their current location. They were at the door in no time. As she stated before, the hotel itself did look cheap, the front of the building and windows covered with dust that was slowly running under the rain. Probably not the safest place for a woman. But even if they did not feel assured to leave her at this place, the trio had to leave her now. It was time to say goodbye to this woman they would probably never see in the future.

“So... I guess I should go back to the hotel...” smiled Alyxia. “I really want to thank you all for what you have done today. Even if we weren’t able to find them, I’m really glad to meet people like you.”

“It’s surely a pleasure for us too,” Cress answered politely.

“It’s a shame you don't have a Poketch or anything like that,” Byron sighed loudly. “I would have loved to keep in touch with you!”

“Me too, me too!” laughed the woman. “But maybe we’ll meet again in the future, who knows? But I think I already took a lot of your time today, and you probably have business to do together, so we should just say goodbye by now, right?”

“Yes, so, er... Goodbye, Miss Alyxia,” nodded Cilan.

“Goodbye then,” added his brother.

“Yeah, yeah, goodbye and see you around!” shouted Byron.

The three men turned back and started to leave, before Alyxia interrupted them one last time.

“Also, Byron... I’m sure you’ll meet your son again. It may take time, but in the end, you’ll surely see each other again,” She suddenly said with a serious and solemn tone.

The Sinnoh Gym Leader made a pause, looked at her, and eventually sighed with a warm smile, “Yes, I’m sure we will.”

* * *

Byron, Cress, and Cilan were now in the room the Cannilava man had reserved. Maybe the size was one of the privileges that came with the position of Gym Leader, but it was more of a suite than a room, with a personal corridor, the two sofas around a coffee table, the king-size canopy bed and the huge bathroom. The view on the PWR was probably one of the best of the city. But none of them cared for those. Sitting in what was comparable to a little living room they were all looking at each other, without daring to initiate a conversation. On the table, a few large files were waiting, still closed.

After a long, a very long silence, the Sinnohsian man started, “So... I came all the way here because according to your message, you may have information about my son.”

“What we have doesn’t concern your son specifically, actually,” answered Cress, “But we think that there may be a link between what we’re investigating for and what you’re looking for.”

“Yes, yes... About that, your brother, Chill...”

“Chili,” Cilan corrected automatically.

“So yes, Chili... I heard he died three years ago, right?”

“It’s what was said, yes,” sighed Cress. 

“I’ll have to be blunt... Did he die on the 31st of March?”

“Yes,” confirmed Cilan. “But, er, how to say that...”

“We were asked to identify his body, and when we saw it... There are things only brothers know about each other, and in our case, we knew Chili should’ve had a scar from an incident he had when we were young, a scar he still had after the incident. But when we looked at his body, there were simply no scars at all.”

“Of course, we, er, tried to speak of it with the cops, but, huh, they never truly listened to us, and, er, they didn't even try investigating it. But we are, hum, sure, that at that day, huh, in this morgue, it was not our brother on that table, but, huh, someone else.”

“I see...” sighed Byron. “Guess people told you that you were only denying the truth, right?”

“They did,” nodded Cress, “But I think they did the same with your son too, right?”

“They said he died when the mine he was in collapsed, but it simply makes no sense at all. He is a Gym Leader, specialized in Rock-type, which means that he’s bound to be smart enough to know which mines were safe, and he died in an abandoned mine, although he’s supposed to be in another mine on the other side of the complex at that time of the day. It makes no sense.”

“Do you have any proof that he, er, didn’t die that day?”

“The body I saw was unrecognizable, so they could’ve gotten any body, and that would’ve worked. But it's not only that... One of my friends also supposedly died the very same day, when a mine collapsed too, but in a different place. They both knew their places well enough, dying because of a mine collapsing isn’t logical for them, especially on the same day at two totally different places. And when I investigated the case... I discovered they weren’t the only ones that suspiciously died or disappeared that day. Actually, I even found a group of people that are also concerned by those mysterious disappearances. And it didn’t only happen in Sinnoh... So far, I found cases from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and, if we add the case of your brother, Unova. And that’s only the regions where I could contact family or friends that were suspicious with valid reasons to be, but I’m also looking for some disappearances in Kalos or Alola.”

“So it’s an interregional problem...” sighed Cress. “This kind of situation is never good when they concern so many places at once. But I just have a question, you didn’t only mention deaths. What about the disappearances? Did the people reappear after that?”

“They didn't,” mumbled the Sinnohsian. “The disappearances were thought to be situations where they ran away or similar situations, but when you take all the elements together, it simply doesn't make sense at all, they didn’t have any reasons to leave.”

“You also, er, mentioned other people," said Cilan."What about, huh, them?”

“Oh, those guys! They’re in the same situation as us, someone they used to know disappeared under mysterious circumstances and they didn't believe what the authorities told them, and they are investigating, like us. Although most people didn’t believe them, I do. The disappearances are just too similar to be only coincidences.”

“Do you think that, er, it would be possible to, huh, meet them?” asked the green-haired man.

“They have busy schedules, so it may take a few days to get all of them here, but if it’s for this case, they’ll definitely come,” assured Byron. “Do you want to...”

“It would be nice,” agreed Cress. “Maybe if we look at each other’s cases, we will discover new things and maybe... Maybe we can get the ones we lost back.”

“Okay, I'll contact them a bit later, because you know, different time zones and all...” smiled Byron. “But what about visiting places for a bit while we're here? It's been years since the last time I came here, and I’m curious to see how the Twist Mountain changed! Would you mind accompanying me there?”

“Not at all,” Cress answered politely. “And even if it's very unlikely, maybe we’ll find something about our case in the Mountains, who knows?”

* * *

_Earlier in the day_

Alyxia looked at the three men that were coming back to their hotel, as she nervously grabbed her wrist, playing with her bracelets. She waited for them to disappear behind the buildings, before turning back and walking quickly on the other side of the street, without even looking at the hotel. A hotel she chose randomly, to avoid questions. After all, who would expect a stranger like her to not sleep in a hotel room during her visit?

After all, she was only passing through the city.

Her feet brought her to Route 6. The night started to fall, the trees becoming menacing shadows, the grass becoming hard to distinguish from the road. But as she went across the wood bridge, even without a light to guide her, she did not hesitate to choose the path to take. She directly headed for a thick bush, plunged her arm in it and grabbed a large brown backpack. She opened it, to see the goods she had stolen from the merchants earlier in the day, and that she had hidden before coming back to town. 

She sighed, her eyes full of disgust. Stealing their products like that... She hated it. She never wanted to do it. As a former merchant herself, she understood why they were angry, what the loss of their goods meant for them. But she did not have the choice. She, along with her "friends" had stolen products to get some precious, too precious food, and these useful clothes. 

But knowing that she did not have the choice did not make things easier.

She looked at the night sky with an expression of nostalgia. The Unovan sky was completely different from the one she used to see from Alola. How long had it been since the last time she could see Alolan stars? How long since the last time she could ever simply look at the sky? A long, an overly long time for her taste. And this person still could not see it...

Her thought was suddenly interrupted by a familiar boy’s voice, “So you were here.”

She turned back to meet Ama's eyes, his face partially hidden by a hood, the shadows assuring the rest of the job. His voice was calm as if he only recorded a fact, but she could hear the underlying accusation behind it. She sighed. So young, and he was already speaking like that to older people. Not that it really surprised her, after all, in the kind of situation they were in, he had no other choice but to grow up faster.

“Actually, I just arrived. Do you know where the others are?”

“Yes, they’re already at Chargestone Cave. You’re the last one.”

“You managed to find all of them so quickly? Congratulations!”

“So quickly? Man, we lost a whole day because of that! Splitting up to escape the merchants was a good idea, but we shouldn't have done that without deciding on a meeting point! Seriously, we could already have been in Mistralton City by now!”

“You had a hard time finding all of us, didn't you?”

“Of course I did! And you, where were you? We've been looking for you for the whole day!”

“Sorry, sorry... It's just that I met some people on my way and... I felt the need to speak to them, and we eventually spent the whole day together.”

“Some people?” asked Ama as he raised one eyebrow. “Who?”

“Byron, and Cress and Cilan. You know, Chili's triplets.”

Her voice was calm as if she was only saying something casual, but Ama's body suddenly tensed, and his look became more strict, suspicious. 

After a moment of silence, he slowly and carefully asked, as if his senses were going to explode, “And so... have you talked... with them?”

“Sure I have.”

He sighed, exasperated, clearly disliking her answer.

Once again, he was silent for a bit before started to speak again, “And what did you say to them?”

“Do you think I'm stupid? If it’s your question, I didn’t tell them anything that can make them discover us. But I was able to have some conversations with them and honestly, I think at least Byron is clearly suspicious of Roark’s “death”. And maybe Cilan and Cress too, but for Chili’s.”

“Oh no!” moaned the boy, silently swearing. “How much do you think they know?”

"Hopefully, not too much. From what I could see, they only thought that their "deaths" hide something, but they don't know how deep all of this go. Do you think we should speak to them too...? Well, you know, tell them the truth and all of it. What really happened that day.”

“We can't, and you know it as well as myself,” Ama immediately answered without a doubt. “If we tell them everything, they’ll be targeted too. And I don't think it’s what Roark and Chili wants.”

“Sure, sure,” answered Alyxia while unconsciously looking away. 

Her literal partner in crime sighed as he declared, “You know, you don't have to feel responsible for what happened to Roark back then.”

“I should’ve done something! If only I’d grabbed him before he fell on the water, or just...”

“You could’ve done nothing, that boy’s move was unpredictable! It’s not your fault that they captured Roark at Couriway Town. Yes, there was, and there’s still a high chance that we’ll get captured by them, and it, unfortunately, got to Roark. But it doesn’t mean that it’s finished! He’s too precious for them, they won’t dare to kill him, so we just have to find where they hid him and to bring him back! Don't give up like that!”

“Yes, sorry... I just felt bad to listen to his father's worries and pretend that I don't know a thing when Roark is everything but okay now. I just... I just wonder why life has to be so complicated, why do we have to go through all of it, why can't it just be a bit easier. Why can't we have a normal life.”

“You already know why”, Ama sighed sadly. “All our hopes for a normal and peaceful day were destroyed during 31st March. All we can do now is to make sure that what happened to us will never happen again, even if we have to cause a lot of damage, even if we have to completely give up on our dreams. Because everything we once had, we lost three years ago. They took it from us. It’s not something I’ll let happen to someone else again. I’ll stop them at all costs. And you, what will you do, _Olivia_?”

“Of course, I'll fight back!” protested the once Kahuna from Akala Island. “After everything they’ve done? No way I’ll just let it go like it! And just as you said, I have to find Roark so that maybe, one day, he could see his father again. And speaking of a missing person, shouldn't we go to the Twist Mountain by now? It’s where the next lab’s located, right? And it’s also where we can find Chili.”

She grabbed Ama's hand and started to leave before he noticed that they were clearly going the wrong way, and took the lead. And as she followed the young boy, under the moon that just appeared, she repeated a promise she made to herself long ago.

She will make sure that no matter what, Roark and Byron would be able to see each other again.

And she will keep this promise no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: Alyxia is Olivia’s name in the French translation. Yes, sometimes you don’t need to look far to find a false name for a character.
> 
> See you in two weeks!


	16. Welcome in Unova! 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> And finally, our favorite Dexholders are back in the game! Time to definitely say goodbye to Kalos, and welcome in Unova! You can be sure that a lot of surprises wait for them here!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you will enjoy it and, once again, thank you to Hilda for beta-reading it.

_This is Gear Station. This is a transregional train between Lumiose City and Castelia City via Couriway Town and Gear Station. Change here for the Battle Subway and the National Rail Services. Please watch out for the gap between the train and the platform._

The feminine voice in the speakers resonated in the car as the train from Kalos to Unova eventually arrived in Nimbasa City. The blue sky that could be seen from behind the window was now hidden by the beige curved walls and the metallic roof of the station. The screech of the train's wheels announced the end of the railway journey. Soon enough, the vehicle stopped, and the silent platform was filled with voices, steps, suitcases rolling on the gray tiles and the bumpy yellow stripes.

After the other passengers got out of the car, a group of people got out of the train. They did not look like a normal group, more like a rather strange mix of people. A little girl with short red-pink hair was playing with a punk man happily, the older of the group. A girl with blond short hair chatted cheerfully with two other teenagers of her age, but deliberately ignored a boy with middle-length raven hair, who was speaking with a young man with spiky brownish hair. On their side, two other teenagers, slightly older than the other ones, but clearly younger than the young man and the punk one, were looking around, examining the faces of the crowd. The man with the spiky hair also began looking around and, even if he was good at hiding the fact that he was lost, it was clear that he was not from this area, and was not familiar with this kind of station. He was about to ask something to the hostess in her blue uniform in her futuristic stand when one of the two older teenagers, a girl with two buns, noticed something near the notice board and brought the attention of the group to two silhouettes that seemed to be looking for something - or someone-.

"Ah, here they are!" the girl smiled, already walking toward the two people, a large smile on her face.

The rest of the group followed in silence, the major part of it is clearly unfamiliar with the other people, and the area. Near the map of the railway network, the two individuals noticed the rather strange assembling of people and came to them. 

The girl of the couple, a young woman with a wavy and imposing ponytail, was the first one to speak.

"Whi-two! Lack-two! You returned quickly from your trip to Kalos!" she started, looking at the former member of the Team Plasma and the International Police Officer before she looked at the rest of the crew. "Are you the people they told us about before? As in the other Dexholders that are trying to catch the one responsible for those attacks?"

"Yes, we are," the man with spiky hair nodded. "I am Green Oak, from the region of Kanto, and here you have X, Y, Shauna, and Tierno. And those two are..."

"I'm Edward Beadle, Head of Office in R&D, and this young lady here..."

"I'm Daddy's daughter, Ann!" the little girl interrupted with a large smile on her face. "Nice to meet ya!"

"Nice to meet you too, Ann!" Black grinned. "So, you’re all here for the terrorist attack thing, right? Are you sure that they came all the way from Kalos to here?"

"More than likely," Lack-two sighed. "They’ve already attacked all the labs in Kalos, there’s none left. And from Couriway Town, the closest region is Unova. Not to mention that Green and I saw them getting on a train to Unova with our very own eyes."

"Couldn't we have some rest, after the freezing town incident from two years ago?" White complained. "Why do people keep doing this kind of stuff?"

"Who knows..." shrugged Green. "But what we’re sure of is that we have to arrest them before they harm more people."

"Do you have any idea of where their next target will be?" asked the Unovan Champion.

"We do," Edward nodded. "There was an incident with some merchants in Driftveil City this morning, a whole group of people went to the market and stole some goods. According to the different witnesses, this group of thieves and our group of terrorists are probably the same. If they’re in Driftveil City, we can already exclude Castelia City’s lab, and they would’ve left the train here. There’s only Virbank City and Icirrus City left. And to make sure where they would go, we already set somewhat of a plan for it..."

"What do you mean?" White frowned.

"We want to make them only have one choice for a lab to attack, and the easier way for it is to simply make sure that they can't go to the other ones," the Officer explained. "Thanks to our contact with Roxie, the Virbank Gym Leader (he clarified to the Kalosians and Green who stared at him in confusion), we could stop the traffic between Driftveil City and Virbank City, as her father is the boss of the main shipping company that watches over the journey between those two cities. So they now don't have any choice but to go to the third lab of the region, in Icirrus City."

"So they’re already on their way to Icirrus City? Do you think we can try to get in their way before they arrive?" Y asked.

"The police and the different gym leaders of the cities between Driftveil and Icirrus are already aware of their presence, so they’re already trying to stop them," Edward responded. "But as the Head of Office of the R&D, I’m expected to head to Icirrus when I arrive in Unova. Of course, you don't have the same responsibilities, so the plan for what’s coming next is completely up to you all."

"The question is how do we get to Icirrus City before them?" Shauna pointed out.

"What if we ask Skyla?" Black proposed. "If we use her plane, we’ll be able to arrive in Icirrus in no time!"

"It may be a good idea, I'll call her to see if it's possible for her to pick us from here!" White agreed.

"In that case, would it be possible to add five other people?" Green asked. "Some of my friends are going to join us, and I think they’re already in town. They might want to come with us."

"Some of your friends? Do you mean the other Dexholders from Kanto?" Shauna suggested.

"Yes, there are also others from Johto. I told them about the situation, and they thought it would be a good idea for them to come here as well. According to their last message, they’re already in town. I'm going to pick them up."

"Do you want us to accompany you to your meeting point?" proposed White. "I worked for some time a few years ago in this town, so I know the area pretty well."

"Thank you for your offer, but I think it would be better if I go alone," the Viridian Gym Leader replied. "I already know where I have to go, one of my friends wanted to visit one of the fast-food restaurants that’s here, so he decided that our meeting point would be there. I already found out that it’s near the amusement park’s entrance, so hopefully, it won’t be too hard to find."

"If you say so..." Black laughed. "Just go to your meeting, we're going to book the plane and all of it!" He looked at the four people from Kalos. "You know, I was always curious about Kalos, how does..."

* * *

Thankfully, the restaurant where Gold had organized the meeting between the Kantonian and Johtonian group was not hard to find. The large billboard with a countdown clock about a hot dog eating contest helped a lot. What the young man was not expecting, however, was the long delay of his friends. He had assumed, according to their latest messages, that they arrived in town before him, so why was he the one that ended up waiting for them? Why was he the one that had to handle the absolutely not discreet stares from children that asked their parents, why was the young man with a strange accent sitting at a table alone? 

He just wanted to end this meeting, so they can take the plane and decide on their strategy already. And especially about how to avoid the disaster known as the last attack, because even though they ended up capturing one of them, there were no other words to describe what had happened in Couriway Town. Because even though they were all Pokédex Holders, and even though all of them had already fought regional or world-wide crises on their own, it was not what made them a group that could immediately work with zero mistakes. Sure, the group from Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn could work well together, because they knew each other for a long time now, but it was not the case for the other regions. 

Although he had already worked with X and Y, it was a really short time, and their teamwork as a group was not that good. Not to mention the ones from Unova, that he barely knew. And the more of them there are, the more difficult it will be to act like one group. With time, it would be easier, but that was the problem, they missed time to train or even only learn to meet each other, when they were facing a terrorist group that, even if they had some issues with each other, were probably working with each other for a long time now.

Green was thinking about it when a familiar voice interrupted him, "Here you are, Senior Green! Wah, that hot-dogs look so good!"

Sitting in front of him without thinking about manners, Gold looked at the menu, muttering to himself about the different options available. Apparently, the Breeder still had his habit of tasting the culinary specialties of every place he visited. Near him, two embarrassed coughs could be heard, and the Trainer did not even have to look to recognize the two other Dexholders from Johto, Crystal and Silver. 

Behind them, Blue and Red were smiling, waving their hand as a sign of greeting. The Gym Leader sighed as the whole group sat at the table, with a clear annoyance behind it that says ‘you are late.’ 

Red was the first one to dare to apologize for the delay, "Sorry Green, we were in a lot of traffic and..."

"Well, if traffic means Gold looking at every single attraction, Senior Red signing autographs for every single people who recognized him, and Gold flirting with some people, yes, we were stuck in a lot of traffic," Crystal moaned, annoyed, the way she rolled her eyes giving away her level of exasperation.

"But we’re here now," Blue tried to take control of the situation. "So maybe we should speak about what brought all of us to Unova, shouldn't we? Green, do you have anything else to tell us that you haven’t said when you called us?"

The Viridian Gym Leader started to fill them in about the details he was not able to bring up on the phone and the more recent news while they ordered some food for themselves. The five other Dexholders silently listened to the different tricks the terrorists used to escape, all the problems they encountered with the group coordination, how they manage to capture one of them during the last attack but according to what was said to them, the terrorist they caught did not give any useful information about his group’s plans or their location, and what they thought would be the terrorists’ next move.

"... And it was at this moment that I called you all and Sapphire, Ruby and Emerald..."

"Wait," Gold interrupted. "You also called them? Why aren’t they here?"

"I already told you about it Gold, haven't I?" Crystal sighed. "They have to finish some research on a wild Pokémon first, and they’ll come when they're done if we haven't stopped the terrorists."

"Also, Silver, Crystal, Gold," Blue said. "Do you know some things about Testsuch? Aren’t they from Johto?"

"Yes, I already heard of them," Crystal replied. "They were originally founded in Cianwood City, but when they grew, they decided to move to Goldenrod City. Their work is mainly to promote scientific research in both human and Pokémon fields, by providing financial help and free access to their different laboratories. In exchange, the scientists that work with them have to give them some parts of their research or participate in other projects."

"How do those guys even get their money?" Gold mumbled.

"You know, some of their research results in inventions, that they decide to sell, and, well, people buy them, and thanks to the contract they have with the scientists, Testsuch gets a part of the different benefits. Actually, they even have some brands that sell those products, and some of them are somewhat famous, so they get a lot of money from that. And, of course, they receive some donations from other regions, because they also welcome some public and academic research."

"Do you know what kind of research they do?" Green asked, and none of them; except maybe Gold, missed his frowning face.

"From what I heard, they’re doing a lot of research in different fields, so it’s hard to tell. But their laboratories are generally specialized in different kinds of research. For example, for the three laboratories that were attacked, the one in Coumarine City was working on water Pokémon bio-diversity and the different energies that influence Pokémon, Lumiose City specializes in pharmacy and cosmetics, and Couriway Town studies the effects of natural products like plants, stone or mineral water on the health, if I’m not wrong."

"And do you know if there was anything in the Lumiose Badlands? They said there were some measuring machines from Testsuch there, but I still don't understand why it’s the first place that was attacked," the Gym Leader continued.

"I never heard of a link between the Lumiose Badlands and Testsuch before," the Catcher replied. "But about your question from before, do you think the reason for those attacks is one specific research?"

"Who knows?" the Trainer sighed. "Edward, one of the managers of Testsuch, suggested something like that, but I don't know what kind of research the terrorists are looking for."

"Maybe they don't know where the lab that has this research is and so, they’re attacking every lab until they find the right one?" Blue suggested.

"I don't really know myself," Green sighed. "But back in Couriway Town, according to the different traces they left behind, they’re most likely looking for something. And they took the faster path to reach their goal, so they probably already knew the lab, or at least the architecture of those labs, so they’re probably already familiar with Testsuch."

"But in that case, they probably know, or at least have an idea of where the thing they’re looking for is located, shouldn't they? So why would they attack so many places?"

"Maybe the thing they’re looking for is split between different labs?" Silver suggested. "In that case, it would be logical for them to attack all the labs until they find everything."

The table became silent, the group looking at the red-haired boy, who looked at them with a "was I seriously the only one who thought of it?" expression. A thing split between different laboratories... What could it be? Green mentally recalled the event of Coumarine Town. Was there anything he missed? He remembered the destroyed room, of course, but the furniture inside was pretty simple, and they didn’t have any equipment in it that could store anything related to their research. However, the door of the room was such a strong door, too strong for what he saw inside. There was also the crystal he found on the ground, but even though it was rare to find them in Kalos, they were common enough in Alola so there was already scientific research about them. Plus, if the crystal was that important, there was no way they would just leave it on the ground like that. What else? 

Maybe the underground thing... Back in the train, when he questioned Edward about it, he answered that the underground was not mentioned in the plan because they were staff-only places and that the major part of their labs does indeed have some underground floors. He also added that, because it was a staff-only place, they could not let the Dexholders freely enter it, for the safety of the samples, and that if the group wanted to visit the underground to prevent a future attack, they would have to ask a few hours before and they have to be accompanied by some scientists while they were in it. After the punk scientist stated it, he could hear Shauna mumbling about how security protocols were a pain and he could only agree with the brunette.

"Green? You went to Couriway lab, do you have an idea of what their goal can be?" 

"I don't really know... We didn’t really have the time to analyze what had happened back during the attack, and we left for Unova immediately after the attack. I do remember some things, but nothing concrete, and I can't find a link between all of them yet. I just hope that we’ll have the time to visit the lab in Icirrus City before the next attack so that we can find some answers. Also, I think you’ll have to talk with the others, they might’ve noticed some things that I didn't."

"The other... Our juniors from Kalos and Unova?" Blue frowned. "I don't think that we’ve met them yet."

"Yes, they should be waiting for us to take the plane by now. Speaking of that, if we want to have time to visit the lab, we should leave now, shouldn't we?" the Trainer said before he asked for the check.

Without another word, the group of Kantonian and Johtonian Dexholders left the restaurant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: For the more observant, people, you may have noticed a sentence of this chapter, "Couldn't we have some rest, after the freezing town incident from two years ago?". This may be a good time to speak about the timeline. 
> 
> Pokéspe is rather long, and after Emerald, the timeline is more or less to be interpreted. But of course, when you write a fic when a lot of Dexholders from different regions appear, you have to establish one yourself, and I did it, even if the interpretation I did to make this fic a little bit logical (to me at least) and that this interpretation is rather free.  
> So, if we start from the RGB arc:
> 
> Year 1: RGB arc  
> Year 3: Yellow arc  
> Year 4: GSC arc  
> Year 5: RS arc  
> Year 5 + 6 months: FRLG arc  
> Year 6 (so +6 months since FRLG): Emerald arc  
> Year 10: BW and DPPt arc  
> Year 11: XY arc  
> Year 11 +5 months: SM arc  
> Year 12 (so +7 months since beginning of SM): BW2 arc  
> Year 14: Time of the fic
> 
> So yes, in my fic timeline, XY and SM happened during the time skip between BW and BW2, and the present time of the fic happened 14 years after the first adventures of Red, Green, and Blue.
> 
> Also, other “fact”: the train announce at the beginning is largely inspired by the ones of the London Underground (or Tube) because well… Spending between two and four hours a day in it, even for only two months, makes you know it by heart.
> 
> See you in two weeks!


	17. Welcome in Unova! 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> And here we go for a new half-chapter! This chapter (including the first part), was typically one of the chapters for which I was like “meh this one’s going to be short I’ll probably not have to cut it in two” and guess what? Well I had to-
> 
> Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy this, and thank you again to Hilda for beta-reading it!

To say that Green was annoyed was an understatement.

All of them had successfully taken their plane back in Nimbasa City, and arrived at Icirrus City without a problem. During that time, his newly arrived friends could catch up with the younger Dexholders, but the Viridian Gym Leader did not learn anything new from their conversation. They could also, once again, determine that their major problem for the moment was teamwork, and everyone came with their own ideas to handle it, although none of them looked satisfying from his point of view. But those things were not what was bothering him.

What was bothering him was the annoying "Do not enter" red sign in the entrance of the Twist Mountain, the road that was supposed to bring them directly to the lab.

Next to him, he could hear Edward apologize, "The lab's staff thought that the best way to avoid an attack was to completely close it, so nobody can leave or enter. Because the area around the mountain’s pretty dangerous and full of fog, they think it might be enough to stop them, and that it would be dangerous if they let people go inside the mountain. They won’t even let other colleagues from Testsuch come in, let alone some strangers they don't really know... I’m terribly sorry!"

"So you basically mean that," Blue started, "we’re supposed to protect a place but we’re not even allowed to go right through a path that leads us directly to it? How the hell are we supposed to arrive in the lab on time?"

"Sorry, with all those attacks, some of us are quit... Paranoid, to put it kindly. They’re usually not like that, but with the recent events... They’re not really fighters, just a bunch of scientists, so they’re too easily scared. As their boss, I really apologize for their attitude but..."

"The mountain is already a good obstacle for them, isn't it?" Lack-two stated. "With so many people in their group, they’ll have to use the roads or ways. If we can't stop them in the lab itself, maybe we can still stop them if we guard some strategic point instead."

"We already tried this kind of strategy," Y sighed, "but it never worked. It's like they always see us before we can go through with our plan!"

"Did you see them use any gadget during the attacks? Because if they used some of them, maybe they can have things like a small camera that films what happens around them, and then..." Blue started, before X interrupted her.

"Except that time back in Lumiose City where Ama used a communication device, although we don't even know if he used a Holo Caster or something else, we saw nothing like that. And they never looked at a screen or something special before they caught us. Do you have any idea of something they can use, Mr. Edward?"

"Nothing, unfortunately," the punk scientist sighed. "If they’re using such a device, it’s definitely not made or supplied by our foundation."

"Maybe a sound, then? Or something else?" the Evolver theorized. "But they should’ve had a device like that, or maybe a Pokémon watching us. If they don't have anything like that, then it would’ve been impossible for them to escape every single time. We just need to find what it is, and then maybe they won’t see us, or we might even be able to lure them into a trap."

"But for the moment, we still don't know what they’re using," Lack-Two countered. "So, unfortunately, as long as we haven't made any progress, we’ll still need to keep using other simple plans such as guarding the different entrances of the mountain."

"But the Twist Mountains have complicated routes, and with the fog..." White frowned. "And from what you said earlier, those attackers already knew the area, right?" After a confirming nod from Edward, she continued, "Our chances to succeed are non-existent here."

"So why not use it as an opportunity to learn more about them and to learn to work together? So we can have more chances to catch them on the next attack."

Everybody turned to Black with a surprised look. To say such a reasonable thing for someone like him was a huge surprise for the group, except for his fellow Dexholders from Unova. 

As he looked at them, the Dreamer explained, a bit embarrassed, "I mean, it’s like when you’re planning to take down the League, isn't it? You have to prepare yourself for it, right? So you get information about who they are, what their abilities are, how you can beat them... And then you train for it. So if we do the same thing with the attacks, we can use them to get as much information that we can and use the free time we have to get used to working together with different strategies, so we can do better and finally catch them."

"But there’s still the possibility that they can stop after a while, isn't there?" Crystal asked.

"Maybe, but it’s still a good idea," Green countered. "I don't know what they’re looking for, but I don't think that they’ll stop now. And it doesn't mean that we won't try to capture them during the next attack, it just means that we’ll try to observe what they’re doing. But there’s still the issue of working together as a group. Seeing as it caused some issues during the last attack is an understatement. We need to solve it before they use it to their advantage."

"Knowing to work altogether... Like training and doing stuff together?" Gold questioned with a grin. "Like going to a freezing place and bonding there like what I did with senior Red a while back? Is there any freezing place where you can train in the area?"

"The former Gym should be available, I guess... It’ll be fun, with all the skating challenges and the ice!" Black mumbled. "Okay! Let's train together, guys!"

"Ya know I was joking when I spoke of a freezing place, right?" Gold laughed nervously. "We can train and bond on a beach or something like that, no?"

"Gold," Crystal interrupted, rolling her eyes as she put emphasis on his name, "we’re in the north of Unova, so no, no beach for you. Well, if you want to train with water, you can always try the big puddles or Route 8, but I’m not sure they’ll be what you’re thinking of."

"I was joking, joking!" the Breeder answered immediately, with a fake smile on his face, before he tried to change the topic. "So, where's the Gym?"

"In the north of the city, on the top of the hill," Black informed. "It's not too far, so we can start as soon as you’re all ready. The Pokémon Center is also not far, so we can heal our Pokémon every time we need to."

"But what about all the problems with that?" White wondered. "Do we train together as one big group, or in little groups? If we train in groups, should we have shifts? And what about the risk of being attacked while we train? Should we spare our time between training and patrolling on the mountain? But we also need time to rest, because if we don't eat or sleep enough it won’t be good for us."

"You're really bossy, young girl!" Edward shouted out. "But don't worry. We have all the reasons to think that those guys are still in Driftveil City, and unlike you, they have to walk to get here, not to mention the time it’ll take them to reach the lab. The attack won’t happen for at least another two days, so you can use those two days to focus on training and organizing your teamwork, while our people will take care of all the guarding stuff for the next two days. So rest and bond as much as you can during this time, okay?"

"They won’t attack before at least two days... Wasn't it the same thing that we were thinking back in Lumiose City?" Shauna muttered. "What makes sure that they won’t attack tonight?"

"Well, of course, we can't be completely sure that they won’t go to the lab before that," the scientist argued. "But even if they do, I think that it’ll be better to work on your cooperation now before it’s too late. Not to mention that the things you can do to stop them here are something our security branch can handle perfectly by themselves. So honestly, for what I know, if it means that you can work on a strategy to stop them, it might be better for you to focus on all the training and bonding for now. Even though it means that you won't take part in the lab patrolling for now."

"What are you saying? Of course we’ll help you with this attack!" Red exclaimed. "And I'm not really worried, I'm sure that with a bit of communication, it’ll all work perfectly fine in no time!"

"But if we want it to work that fast, we need to start quickly," Blue grinned. "Time to get ready! I want everyone to go to the Gym by the next 30 minutes, or I’m going to sue some people!"

"BLUE!"

* * *

The whole group spent all of the first-day training altogether, learning about each other's strengths and weaknesses, and planning different ways of fighting according to their abilities. The process to work with everyone was not easy, when their team was made up of 14 people. But, slowly, they managed to get some results. Of course, cooperation could not be that easy for such a huge group, but with everyone willing to work for it, it will undoubtedly be a success. Although they will still have to work with the other people that will come later...

For the second day, Blue, who had somehow taken the lead of the operation, decided that it would be nice to work in small groups depending on how they can work well with the others. And after that, she took all the girls with her to do who knows what. The boys then split up and, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Black ended up hanging out with Red and Gold.

Meeting Red, who was such a legendary Champion, was something the Unovan Champion was happy about. He did not, after all, had the opportunity to do that every day, so he planned to enjoy it as much as possible. And if the training battles they did during the day before were above anything he can imagine, learning to know the man behind the legend was also incredible. The untold stories, the hidden truths, everything the books did not speak about... He felt terribly lucky to be able to hear all of that. To think that a few months back, he was still trapped in the Light Stone... The whole situation was just so enjoyable, even if the reason for their meeting was not the best.

While he was listening to the Kantonian and by extension Gold, he started to daydream again, his mind slowly slipping out of reality, Musha started to get agitated in his Pokéball. And it was probably because he was zoning out that he did not notice that Gold suddenly stopped walking, or that Red was warning him about something before he bumped into a man. 

The man glared at Black. The presence of this man was impressive, with his black scrap cloak, slightly open so he could look at the white tank and the torn worker pants he wore under the cloak. The Champion swallowed. Did he just bump into one of the workers of the mine? He looked kind of pissed off. Maybe it had to do with the security protocol Testsuch put in place? Their work must be affected by those events, and they might not take it very well. Would it mean that maybe, the man would be in the mood to do a Pokémon fight? There was no way he could let go of an occasion like this one!

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when two people he had not seen since he was trapped in the Light Stone appeared from behind the man, wearing uniforms that were as elegant as the man’s ones were torn. A single look was enough for the three of them to recognize each other.

"Aren’t you two Cilan and Cress from Striaton City?"

"Black? Is it really you?"

"It's been a long time! But what are you doing here? Icirrus City is at the opposite location of Striaton!"

"We, uh, had some business to do here," Cilan explained. "Not to mention that, hum, we're not any more Gym Leaders, so we, uhm, often take visits to the cities around the region."

"And our guest was interested by the mine at the Twist Mountain, so we brought him here," his blue-haired twin added.

"I was, but apparently, it's closed ‘cause of security stuff... Ah, I really wanted to go here!" The man spoke for the first time, with a loud Sinnohsian accent.

"Ah, sorry to bump into you!" Black suddenly remembered.

"It's okay, kiddo! So you're Black, right? The guy that disappeared right after you became a Champion? A lot of people spoke about it back then, even in the newspapers in Sinnoh!"

"Ah, yeah, yeah..." The boy was embarrassed that the reason why some people knew him was only because he was trapped in the Light Stone.

"And you sir, you are?" Gold asked suddenly, as he interrupted the discussion, with obvious suspicion on his face. If this man was really that interested to come here, did he have something to do with the attacks?

"Oh, I forgot! The name's Byron, I'm a Gym Leader from Sinnoh!"

"And you came all the way from Sinnoh to visit a mine?" the Breeder continued, even more suspicious.

"Not only because of that. I was, along with those two, supposed to meet some acquaintances of mine, but they can't come here before a few days, and because I was curious about the mine here, Cilan and Cress offered to bring me to Twist Mountain."

"And why are you even interested in the mine? Is there really something interesting here, like money?" the Johtonian questioned.

"It's just that back home, I also work in mines, so... But why are ya asking me all those questions? Is there a problem with the mine?"

Before anybody could say something, Red smiled in a friendly way at the three trainers and started to explain the whole situation, under the stunned look of Gold and the admired one from Black. Although he tried to protest, the Breeder eventually gave up, mumbling something about the need for his senior to seriously stop telling other people things so easily. As soon as the Fighter was done with his explanation, the others could swear that they saw an aura of fire and anger all around Byron. 

"You're just sayin' that I can't visit the mine 'cause some petty terrorists decided to attack a lab? There’s no way I can just let it go like that! Those terrorists or whatever they’re called are gonna pay for this!" Byron declared.

"Byron, calm down, it's just..." Cress attempted, before being interrupted.

"How can I stay calm when some guys like this wanna attack a mine?! Don't they realize how it causes trouble for the workers? Do they have any idea about the amount of money the mine and the workers lost every day because of them? I swear, they’re going to realize it very soon!"

"What do you mean by that?" Gold asked. "You're not con-"

"Why are you asking that?! They’re going to attack soon, right? So we just have to fight and beat them, it's that simple!"

"Wait, you mean that-"

"Cress! Cilan! Before our friends arrive, can we just take care of that? Please?" The man, although he was the oldest out of all of them, was looking at them with puppy-like eyes. The two triplets stared at each other. What else can they answer to something like that? With a heavy sigh, they eventually answered.

"Sure..."

* * *

Five days have passed since the Dexholders arrived at Icirrus City.

And five days have passed without any accidents.

In the city, the atmosphere was as calm as usual. Some children were playing near the Pokémon Center. At a little house in the north of the city, a middle-aged woman was looking for participants for her quiz. A few wild Pokémon were playing together in the puddles, under the caring look of a young lady.

And White was guarding the entrance to the Twist Mountain, with the help of Y, Blue, and Silver.

Curls of fog from the morning were still present and lazily winded around them as they looked around them, searching for anything suspicious, examining the faces of passersby, analyzing every one of their gestures. But the job was rather annoying. 

Because it was the beginning of July, some tourists started to visit the little town, but they were mainly families with children or old couples who were, without a doubt, Unovan, and a look at them was enough to put them out of the suspects' list. 

So far, the only ones they found suspicious drove them to a dead-end, as they were just a bunch of Kantosian students enjoying the end of the year. The confrontation with the said students, which quickly became pointless as they were completely drunk and were making fun of the Dexholders, was the more interesting event that happened during the last three days of patrols.

In other words, the group felt the boredom growing inside them more and more during every minute they were spending there.

And this boredom could be felt in their job. From time to time, one of them had to exclaim "Let’s focus on the task!" to remind themselves what the goal of those patrols was.

At least, they could make good use of the time they spared together, as they could speak with Y about their enemies, and learn some details she did not think was necessary to mention earlier, and that could actually help to recognize the group of terrorists in a crowd, as apparently, some of them were wearing overly warm clothes for the season. 

From that, the topic quickly drifted to the different strategies they used during the attacks, and then it ended in an explanation of Flying Trainers' abilities and a collaboration plan between the Dreamer and the Flyer for a potential show in Unova when all of this is over.

WHEN all of this would be over.

Inside her, White could not help but beg for the terrorists to finally make a move and attack, so they could finally act. She just wanted all of this to be over, so she could come back to her job and work on this collaboration.

And so, when an odd whistling resonated in the mine entry behind them, and when a strange mist suddenly covered the town, the ponytail girl could not help but smile.

The time to finally act was now.

* * *

“Fuah! We’re finally done with it!” Sapphire exclaimed, sweating, a large smile on her face.

“What day is this already?” Emerald sighed. “I feel like we came here more than one year ago already…”

“Same here, I feel so old…” Ruby added.

“You are old, Ruby!”

“Emerald!”

“C’mon, stop it ya two!” the Conqueror interrupted. “Now that we’re done, we can go with everyone to Unova! Let’s go to the airport, grab a plane today!”

“Eh? Sapph, it’s already 6 in the evening! Can’t we get a night of proper sleep before we leave?”

“We can always sleep in the plain! C’mon already”

“Farewell, comfortable bed…”

The young girl ran toward the door of the warehouse, her foot treading on some forgotten paper, and would have gone outside if it was not for the door who opened at the exact same moment. The man blinked at her, before he smiled, the gentle smile of someone who was used to this kind of situation. And Sapphire smiled too, recognizing the man in front of her immediately.

“Steven! Been a while! How are ya doing?” she exclaimed as Ruby and Emerald arrived behind her.

“Glad to see that you are doing well, Sapphire,” the Champion laughed. “Nice to see you too, Ruby, Emerald.”

“I would’ve said that the pleasure is mine,” Ruby sighed, with a resigned smile. “But usually, when you come like that, it means that you have a problem and you want our help. And with how you look right now, I’m thinking that you’re here for a reason. Is Hoenn still in danger or...”

“Hehe, you got me… Well, it doesn’t put Hoenn directly in danger, but there is something going on with the Pokémon Association right now, and I, as well as a colleague of mine, are starting to get really suspicious… Have you heard of those terrorist attacks in Kalos?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: Speaking of timelines, do you know that there is also a timeline for this fanfic? To be exact, the event of the first chapter happened on the 21st of June. Since then, in the fanfic, a few days have happened, of course. And being stupidly obsessed by details, I counted those days, so here is the timeline!
> 
> Chapter 1: 21st June, Afternoon  
> Chapter 2: 24th June, Midday  
> Chapter 3 and 4: 25th June, Morning and Midday  
> Chapter 5: 26th June, Morning  
> Chapter 6: 27th June, the whole day  
> Chapter 7 and 8: Between the 27th and 28th June, Night  
> Chapter 9: 28th June, Morning and Midday  
> Chapter 10: Day of the 29th June + 30th June, Morning  
> Chapter 11, 12 and 13: 30th June, the whole day  
> Chapter 14: 2nd July, the whole day  
> Chapter 15: from the 2nd to the 7th July
> 
> And if you take a look at these dates, you will notice an important event, not mentioned in the fanfic, that happened in one of those days! If you have any idea about what it might be, you can always comment, maybe you'll win a drabble or a little doodle! And don't be afraid, this event is of course Pokespe related.


	18. The Twist Mountain 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> And here we go for a new chapter, one week late- I’m really sorry, the chapter wasn’t ready for last Saturday so I waited until then to post, sorry.  
> Also, starting from now and until normally the end of August, the chapters' updates would be on Sunday instead of Saturday. I got a job the Saturday night and once the day come, I’m too tired to edit and post everything correctly so updates day change-
> 
> Anyway, hope you’ll like this chapter, and thank you again to Hilda for beta reading it!

The dark entrance of the mine was covered by fog. It was a dark one with the odour of burning and the taste of ashes, that slowly but surely started to invade Icirrus City. There was no way this fog was natural, everything in it screamed that it was caused by someone. The echoes of an odd whistling that should have ended by now resonated between the rock walls.

Next to White, Silver could not help but cough. A fire, an explosion, maybe? The origin of the fog itself did not really matter, it was a dangerous fog that could be toxic. The worst that could happen right now for them was to be poisoned by the smoke because the smoke was definitely more dangerous and threatening than the fire or the explosion itself. But its appearance did tell them something important. This was not natural, not in a mine that has been unoccupied for the last week because of security protocol. Even if it was still possible, all the odds for a simple incident happening were small. 

This meant only one thing, it had to be caused by someone, and the people from Testsuch would have never let something like that happen. The more likely reason for the smoke was a move from the terrorists. Was it a diversion? Were they trying to evacuate the laboratory so that they can infiltrate it more easily? Or did they set fire to the building to sneak inside it? Or to escape from the building? Several hypotheses were possible at this time.

The group exchanged a quick glance. What should they do? Should they wait at the entrance to see if someone came out? But as Lack-Two mentioned before, without including the three main entrances of the mountain from Route 7, the Clay Tunnel, and Icirrus City, there were plenty of ways to get out of the Twist Mountain. This place was an anthill. If they stayed here, there was a high risk they would miss everything that was going on, and miss the opportunity to learn more about the terrorists, their methods, how they battled, their real aim. Should they enter the mine? They had studied the plan of the mountain together before, of course, but would they be able to recall everything they had seen when they would need it? The inside was a labyrinth. The face was clear once you looked at the papers. With the fog and the pressure of the attack, how could they be sure that they will not get lost?

But no matter what they would decide, they had to make a choice, quickly, before it was too late.

Blue was the first one who dared to speak and she said her opinion aloud. 

"We should get inside. We might get lost, or put ourselves in danger, but it’s the best way for us to get at least information on them for now. And maybe, with a bit of luck, we'll be able to capture them."

No one argued. Was it because she was older? Was the reason because of how she said what they should do as an order rather than a question? Or was it because she had more experience? Whatever the reason is, Silver, White, and Y all nodded in agreement and swiftly entered the dark entry.

As soon as they entered Twist Mountain, they had to cover their mouth and nose with their hands. The smoke was dense as it was prisoner between the dark and moist walls, making the air barely breathable. It was also hard to see, everything around them looking more like black and grey stains instead of actual things. Their eyes burned, breathing hurt them, even their skins were starting to irritate. 

Blue could do nothing but search for some gadgets that may be useful in her bag, and find nothing useful other than a few pairs of Go-Goggles she got from Sapphire a while ago. It won’t help them a lot with progressing through the fog, but at least their eyes would be protected from the smoke. Unfortunately, she could not do more, as they lacked both time and helpful gadgets. She quickly handed them out to her partners, silently hoping that the other groups had found a way to fight the smoke, although she was not positive that they succeeded. 

The four of them advanced slowly, carefully putting their hand on the near walls so that they would not get completely lost in the middle of the smoke. It felt like hours, and maybe it was indeed hours, or it might only have been a few minutes, but they eventually arrived at what seemed to be a crossroad. After checking with the others, White advanced alone, trying to see if there was something in front of them so they would not have to turn and risk losing their direction.

Unfortunately for her, she did not even walk ten-foot until she bumped against a wall. This was a dead end.

As she turned to go back, she sighed, "It’s a dead-end, we can't continue straight ahead. What direction should we head now?"

"There are two ways, one to the right and one on the left, right?" Silver answered, his voice echoing between the walls. "It looks like there’s more light coming from the one on my left, the other one is really dark."

"Can we go to the one with the light?" Y begged. "It’s only been a few minutes but I already feel claustrophobic."

"We don't know where they are but it’ll definitely be easier to find them if we have a bit of light to help us see," Blue agreed. "Let's go to the one on Silver’s left."

And so they took the way on Silver’s left, directing toward the grey stains, the little bit of light their eyes could get. But the more they went toward it, the denser the smoke was, and the more irritating it was. 

By the time they reached the source of the light, a door that went straight to the bottom of the mine, the group could do nothing but cough, scratch their painful skins, cough again, and scratch again. As the senior Dexholder from Kanto felt bitter bile coming from her stomach to her mouth, she knew it was simply too dangerous to continue that way. This smoke was toxic, and if one of them had a bad reaction to it and faint, it would be a disaster for all of them. 

Between two intense coughs, Blue ordered, "It's too dangerous to continue here, let's head back and try the other way."

Finding the entrance again was harder than they expected. They could barely see their hands or their feet, let alone the walls. The fog was way too dense, and even if they tried to disperse it with a Pokémon, Honchkrow, Barbara or Fletchy would clearly not making a difference. 

They eventually managed to come back on their track, speeding up as much as they could to get to a place where the air would be more breathable. They saw the light of the exit to Icirrus City, but they would gain nothing if they came back now. They went on to the darker part of the mountain, where there was no light to guide their path and where the fog was no less suffocating. The feeling of being swallowed by the darkness and the Earth itself did not helped at all. However, they continued to advance, because they had to, they could not stop, and eventually, as her hand was carefully feeling the rock wall, Y found the entrance to a new place.

They emerged from this opening, feeling as though they came back from the Earth's core. The new place that they entered was not a small corridor like the first one, but more like a huge room. The room was divided by mounds and rock stairs to create a complex labyrinth. As they climbed the stairs that were in front of them, the fog became less dense, and Blue, Silver, White and Y could now see each other properly. One glance at each other was enough for them to decide it was not worth it to try to go towards the labyrinth and that for now, the best option was to head directly to the luminous entrance in front of them. But they stopped their progression as soon as they heard some voices speaking. Those voices were surely not far from them and they were coming closer to the group.

"Where’s the exit?" The girl's voice was serious, but it hardly showed any hint of concern.

"If you guys really want to take that exit, the best thing to do would be to head to the right for now and to take the entrance that is at the bottom, after the big stairs. There would be a lot of fog though, but it's without a doubt the quicker way to go." This voice, a man without a doubt, was energetic, and it strangely sounds as excited as a kid that got the toy they wanted for Christmas.

"The fog is nothing we can't manage. C'mon, we'll be out of here soon!" This voice was younger, energetic too, but it also sounded as if the boy was putting all his energy to focus on something, something that needed a lot of effort.

Blue, Silver, and White looked at Y. The nod she made was certain. She recognized those voices, and they were clearly not their allies. It sounded as though they had finally found the thing they were looking for. They were heading towards the entrance and they just left the gallery, which meant that they were also going straight to them. After a slight glance between them, they stayed silent and motionless, waiting for their enemies to arrive.

Enemies who were still speaking.

"Hey, _Ama,_ " the excited man said, his voice emphasizing the name with amusement, "have you seen the exit already?"

"How could I? X-ray vision is to see through walls, not fog, you know?" The boy's voice, Ama, answered with a kind of friendly exasperation. "Seriously, you couldn’t find a better diversion? We’re losing a lot of time with this method, with trying to find our way out."

"You told us to create a huge distraction, and it's not like we had a lot of ways to do it. Plus, you can't really say that with what you did in the Badlands!"

"We weren’t the ones that caused that explosion, you know?"

"Stop that already, you two!" the girl exclaimed. "It's true that we needed a distraction, but putting fire to the lab itself was clearly not the cleverest idea you ever had, Pepper."

"Sorry, ma'am!" Ama apologized. "Anyway... Wait, stop!"

"What again?"

"People! In front of us! And I don't think they're here to help us!"

"People like Testsuch or people like..." the girl started.

"They’re not from Testsuch. We already had the pleasure to meet them... Y, if I'm right?"

The four Dexholders could not see their opponents clearly in the dark and the fog, but now that they were detected, it was useless to stay motionless. 

As she grabbed one of her Poké Balls, Y exclaimed, "Ama... I still don't get why you’re doing all of this, but what I’m sure of is that we can't let you continue just like that! We’ll defeat you now!"

"Talking any more is useless then... Guess we'll have to battle. Let's go!'"

Nothing more was said before the first moves cut off the fog.

* * *

Crystal gave a dark look at Gold, as the young man sneezed. The sound echoed between the walls of the Clay Tunnel, catching the attention of all the other people present. But the Breeder could not help it. The cave was cold, terribly cold compared to the summer weather outside, and the Ice Rock which slightly glowed not far from them certainly did not help to warm him. 

The 'let's wait for the terrorists at the different entrances of the mountain' was already a boring mission, but why does he have to be freezing here when Blue, Silver, Green and some of their juniors could wait outside, under the warm sun with the refreshing breeze, with the possibility to buy something to drink or to eat if needed? But no, he was stuck here with some of the least talkative people he ever met. Seriously, compared to the Gym Leader with blue hair or the inspector who was way too young for his job, the Silver he met when he was ten years old was a chatty boy! 

Next to him, Red sent an apologetic smile his way, while Black was speaking about the Sinnoh League with the strange guy that joined them a few days ago. According to Crystal, he was a famous Gym Leader who already helped a lot during a crisis in Sinnoh. He remembered hearing about this a few years ago. The guy was loud, energetic and intrepid. That enough for Gold was enough to trust and accept the man. He was not the kind of guy to hide something from others, and this kind of man was one of the best allies you can have. From his point of view, at least, because the more they know about the man's personality, the more he saw the irritation of some of his teammates rising.

However, one of the advantages of having Byron on their side was that even if he was not from the region, he was already familiar with mines and the mountain that even after only a few days here, he already knew his way in the galleries outside the mountain, the ones that were still accessible to them. He knew his environment well enough, and he could know immediately when something was wrong.

Like when he suddenly raised his head, his focus now no longer in the conversation he had before, his nose tickling as he sniffed. He stood up, his eyebrow frowned in the most serious expression they saw on him since they met him, his alert eyes scrutinizing the cavern they were in, before stopping at one of the entrances to the mountain. The ones who were talking a bit before were now completely silent, their eyes following the Steel-type specialist. 

After a moment, the miner asked, "Hey... Do you smell this odor? It smells like something was burning."

The other concentrated a bit, sniffed, before nodding in agreement. Although it was thin, there was definitely an odor here. An odor of fire, ashes, sulfur. Something was definitely wrong. 

With a professional and deadly-serious tone, Lack-two interrogated, "Mr. Byron, do you have any idea of where it comes from? What can it be?"

"Do you think it's the terrorists? Are they finally here?" Gold added with relief. If there were here, it would mean action, and he would not have to keep staying in this cave while freezing!

"Comes from the mountain, without a doubt..." the man mumbled as if he was more speaking to himself than to his comrades. Maybe it was the case. "Comes from above us, not that far so we can notice the odor... S'not a coil fire, neither a machine, probably a building... With the location, probably the lab. Huge fire, lots of fog, maybe toxic smoke, need to be careful. Not a natural fire, too huge, someone did do it. The terrorists?" He then seemed to realize there were other people around him, listening. "So, well, we can either stay here or check what's going on. What would you like?"

"We should go check. If this fire is caused, then there are high chances that the terrorists are here," Lack-two stated. "But one or two people should stay here, just in case. Any volunteers?"

Of course, none of them proposed. Who would want to stay in the gloomy cave, waiting for something that may never come, when you knew your teammates were fighting not so far away? Nobody. 

With a sigh, Crystal analyzed their situation, "We need to split into two groups, one that continues to watch the entrance here and one to check what's going on. Byron needs to come, he’s more familiar with the terrain than most of us. For the rest, the team who goes to check needs to be fast while the other group needs to be ready to set up a trap and cover a large zone if some enemies arrive. Senior Red's Saur, Black's Tula, and Cress' Simipour may work well to cover the whole entrance. In the case of the attack happening, someone should stay here with them. Gold, you have good teamwork with Senior Red. Would you agree to stay here to support them?"

Although it sounded like a question, the Breeder knew his friend well enough to know that what she said was carefully thought through and that a refusal would not help her at all with whatever idea she had in mind. He nodded, with an annoyed sigh of someone who was not exactly happy with his situation.

"The rest of us, who are Lack-two, Tierno and myself, should go with Byron to check what’s going on, and where the fire comes from. Byron, do you think you can bring us to the lab?"

"I memorized the plan, so it shouldn’t be too hard to do that."

"Perfect. Let's go! Gold, Senior Red, Black, Cress, good luck!"

"Good luck to you too!"

The Catcher, the Inspector, the dancer and the Sinnoh Gym Leader all disappeared in an instant inside a gallery, leaving the four others on their own. As soon as they were out of sight, Gold and Black let out a sigh of annoyance. They knew the reasons behind this division, they had worked on this kind of thing during their training last week, but it was still terribly annoying for them to just stay here, in the cold, the humidity and, worst of all, the boredom. But no, their Pokémon were good at setting up some traps, so they had to stay here. Well, Red's, Cress' and Black's Pokémon were, because while they all filled the cave with Vine Whip nets, Ice Beam and Electrowebs, the Breeder could do nothing but sit and watch. Why couldn't he go with the others?

While they were putting their traps in place, the burning odor increased and the dark fog that was at first nearly invisible became thicker and thicker, slowly but surely limiting their vision. They were all sitting near the Ice Rock now, waiting for something, or maybe nothing. How much time had passed? According to Cress's elegant watch, less than twenty minutes have passed, but the tension that came from the waiting made it seem like hours. Sometimes, some sounds disturbed the silence, but they were too far and they could not recognize if it was a Pokémon, their friends yelling, the terrorists, or simply the wind.

But eventually, the sounds became closer, and at last, one of them was clearly recognizable for the group. Gold froze, his golden eyes looking to Red who looked as horrified that Gold was probably himself. There was no doubt. The sound that reached them, it was Crystal’s, and it was definitely not a cry of victory or to give an order or anything like that. They knew the Catcher well enough to be sure that she was not the kind of person who cried easily. If she did that, it meant that something was wrong, terribly wrong. And both Gold and Red knew that they could not let their friends in danger for the sake of the world, ever less for the sake of protecting an entrance. 

They stood up and started to run towards the mountain, towards the cry, towards the action. The rhythm of their nearly flying feet on the ground was not as quick as the one made by their heart in their chest, boosted by adrenaline. Somewhere, behind them, they could hear their two teammates, and, although Cress might have protested, they knew that they had followed them. They climbed some stairs and turned to their right, following the black fog, which was becoming thicker at every single step they did. And before they knew it, they were outside.

At least, they thought they were outside because they were sure that they passed an exit, but it was almost impossible to see what was above them. The black fog had some red gleam, and the crackling sounds they heard confirmed that the origin of the fire was not far away. Except that, it was silent, and they had no clue what could have caused Crystal to cry. But they had to be careful, because they could only use their ears to detect what was happening. Their eyes or sense of smell were completely useless because of the fog. They couldn’t even see each other, as the ash quickly covered their clothes, their skin, their hairs, giving them the appearances of black phantoms in a black fog.

"What's going on here?" Gold coughed, before muttering some insults towards the fog. "Where are they, goddammit!"

"Don't know," Red answered, "but we need to find them."

"Gold, Senior Red, you're here?" Crystal said suddenly, with surprise and disbelief. "Why didn't you stay back there?!" This time, they could clearly hear her disapproval, as well as her well-hidden relief.

"Crys, are you okay? We heard you cry, did you just lose or something?" Now that Gold heard his friend and knew that she was alright - she did not sound as though she was badly injured -, and even if he still couldn't see her properly, he could not help but tease her. "Anyway, where are you? We can't see a thing with this damn fog!"

"I'm not far from the big bulldozer, do you see it?"

"The bulldozer... The big shadow? I'll get closer!"

Gold had completely forgotten that if there was fog, it was probably because of these terrorists and that they could potentially still be around here. After all, it was his first time facing them. And, as well as Crystal, he forgot that speaking loudly and practically screaming out his position was as though he was asking for the enemies to find them.

It was already too late when a whistling, followed by a wave of energy, split the fog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: It’s… uh…
> 
> I’m sorry I couldn’t think of any for this chapter I’m sorry-
> 
> See you in two weeks!


	19. The Twist Mountain 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> And here we go for the chapter of the week! Little announcement, due to some reasons, the next update would not be before the 20th June! I’m sorry for the delay-
> 
> Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy the end of the 16th chapter!

The day was one of the typical days of the beginning of the summer, one of those days where you either went out with your friends to do refreshing activities or you stayed in your room the whole day, windows opened and shutters closed in an attempt to keep a rather cool temperature. A day with a clear sun, only a few clouds, and no winds. 

Which meant no rain to end the fire. Which meant no wind to disperse the fog.

Some people compared Twist Mountain to a gigantic bowl for a reason. The different faces of the mountain did indeed create a kind of bowl. Humans and Pokémon could easily come and leave with the light wood footbridges and the caves, but this artificially dug creation trapped everything else. The stones. The fossils. The coals. The fog. The fire.

From their refuge, in one of the higher wood platforms, X, Green, Whi-two, Shauna, and Cilan could do nothing but shiver at the sight of the terrible spectacle that was happening in front of their eyes. The Testsuch's laboratory they only saw in pictures before was now consumed by a huge and devastating fire. The black fog spread and could not escape from the bowl, not without any wind, and so it kept turning and turning around, becoming thicker as the fire kept producing it. The rest was entirely hidden by both fire and smoke. 

When they first smelled the burned odor, from the entrance they guarded on Route 7, at first, they had exchanged a suspicious look. And when they eventually saw some smog and heard someone yelling about an attack and a fire, they did not need to speak to each other to decide that they had to go to check the situation. But they were not expecting this to happen. They did not expect the terrorists to be that heartless to threaten the lives of so many people by setting fire to what used to be the lab.

Green's brain was thinking of a solution as quickly as possible. Should they try to end the fire? Surely, his group was in a good position to try something like that. However, his Golduck would clearly not be enough, and none of his teammates owned any Water-type Pokémon. If it had been another group, it may have worked out, but not with them. Should they try to get rid of the fog? No, the situation was already complicated with the fire and the fog, and the two Pokémon that are powerful enough for this task, the duo of Charizards, might end up making the situation worse. Should they try to get closer to the laboratory? But if they did that, they would put themselves in danger, and they would lose their advantage of seeing what was happening. Plus, according to the sounds he could hear, some people were already here. Their presence would be nothing but useless.

His train of thought was interrupted when he heard some footsteps coming from near him. He turned his head, and his teammates turned towards the direction of the footsteps as well, looking for who was coming.

A cloak that was starting to become terribly familiar for Green, X, and Shauna. A man with a Roman nose and a cruel smirk. Another man, probably a bit older, the shadow of his hat completely hiding his face, except for two gleaming and focused eyes.

Three familiar silhouettes. Three familiar walks. Three familiar people, tensing when they saw the group, their hands automatically reaching for their Poké Balls, preparing to release their creatures, ready to fight.

Three terrorists, they had already seen too many times.

_Them._

_THEM._

_THEM!_

They were here. Just in front of them. While staring at the other group, the terrorists’ initial reaction of surprise was quickly replaced by a sigh. It was a sigh of exasperation, a sigh that signaled that the two teams would have to fight once again.

If they counted their three opponents, there were now eight people on the platform. Too much people. They would have to choose everything carefully; their Pokémon, their moves, and their position, if they wanted to avoid the potential destruction of the walk bridge under their feet. It was a destruction that would be fatal to them. They could not act recklessly, and one glance between the five of them was enough for them to know that.

Green's Scizor and Golduck were the first ones to come out from their Poké Balls. They were followed a few milliseconds later by X's Garma and Elec, and an opponent’s Lucario. An Elekid and an Octillery came out as well, while a Vulpix was excitedly jumping and yelping around the cloaked person, clearly happy to be out of its Poké Ball.

Green frowned. A Vulpix? He had seen a lot of trainers coming to his Gym with a Vulpix before, and although they were not as powerful as his Ninetales, the fire they produced was still powerful. Those fires were able to consume their environment quickly, and Vulpix had a natural exceptional control over their fire, for the best and for the worst. He had no doubt that if its Trainer were ordering it, the Vulpix would have no difficulty to set fire to the laboratory in an instant.

They might be closer to the culprit than they expected.

"Golduck, Hydro-Pump at Vulpix!"

The well-trained Duck Pokémon immediately obeyed, directing the powerful water squirt to the Fire-type Pokémon. The man with the roman nose called Octillery, and the Jet Pokémon did not waste a second to get between Golduck and Vulpix to receive the Water-type move. 

However, the people Green was working with were also experienced, and the octopus was soon stopped by a Vine Whip move coming from Cilan's Simisage. Octillery's trainer did not even need to give an order before it turned to the Thorn Monkey Pokémon, ready to counter-attack. But instead of a Water-type move, a devastating Fire Blast instantly reduced the whip to ash, critically hurting the former Unovan Gym Leader’s partner.

All of this happened in less than a few seconds. It was barely enough to let Foongy jump out from Whi-two's arms, or for Shauna to release her Kitty. However, it was enough for the Lucario in front of them to prepare a Bone Rush move, directed towards Elec without any hesitation. One, two, three hits, and it was enough. The Ground-move demolished the Discharge Pokémon, who collapsed on the ground, unconscious. With that and the Simisage that was now barely standing, the fight was destroying Green and his teammates without much difficulty.

The end of the fight was close to Simisage, and he knew it. But before letting his burn finally put him out of the fight, he released a desperate Leaf Storm to the Octillery that was their toughest opponent for now. To the relief of the five trainers from his side, he succeeded. Even though he had to return to his Great Ball just after that, his opponent had to return to its ball as well. 

The foe’s Elekid ran towards Golduck, most likely ready to release an Electric-type move. But it was then surprised by Shauna's Skitty, who just arrived on the field and swiftly chose to use a Fake-Out move. It was not something that could cause heavy damage to the Electric Pokémon, but it was enough to surprise and destabilize the Elekid. 

Lucario arrived from behind, readying itself for a Close-Combat, but it was blocked by Garma's Shadow Claw. It left Scizor with enough time to prepare its Steel Wing and cause the Elekid to faint. In front of them, there were only Vulpix and Lucario left, and Foongy was under them, ready to release a Clear Smog.

The terrorists exchanged a glance, knowing that they were outnumbered and that they were losing. They had to do something, anything to avoid that. And so they did the best thing they could think of at this moment.

They fled.

Their Pokémon followed them, and so did the Dexholders and Cilan and their own partners. Their feet were pounding on the wood of the walk bridge, giving the illusion of an anarchic melody. The group of three terrorists went straight ahead, not looking behind them, already knowing what was waiting for them. 

Or at least they thought they knew. Because they were running, they did not notice the entrance of a gallery on their right. It was a gallery that, if Green recalled correctly, had two other exits leading to the farther part of the bridge. Two other exits that may allow them to ambush their enemies if they were quick enough for it. 

He pulled X and Whi's sleeves, silently showing them the black gallery, before leading them into it, leaving Cilan and Shauna to continue chasing the three criminals. The ground of the gallery was covered by rocks of different sizes, but the trio made sure to avoid them and to reach the closer exit as quickly as possible. They burst in just in front of their targets. Whi-two and X were ready for what they had to do.

"Foongy, Clear Smog please!"

"Garma, Dark Pulse, now!"

The two pokémons obeyed. The two moves violently shook the structure of the bridge. It was efficient, but not as much as they expected, because Vulpix let out a cry and tackled the ground. Lucario did not seem to be out of sync, his first reflex being to grab his trainer and his partner to bring them closer. 

The trio saw this reflex, and their eyes widened when they realized the mistake they had just made as they heard Cilan yelling.

"SHAUNA!"

Obviously, this had to happen. With the bridge trembling, the young girl lost her balance, and, in front of the stunned eyes of the three Dexholders, she was slowly but surely falling, not on the bridge or the rock wall but on the void, with the ground several meters under her, a harsh mountain ground... Her eyes were wide open, an expression of surprise on her face. Her hand vainly tried to grab something, anything, but there was nothing to grab except air.

Of course, X and Green's bodies tried to react, running to reach the young girl, and Cilan tried to reach her hand, but they were too far, too slow, and she kept falling. The miracle eventually came from their own enemies. 

The man with the hat was quick, and before anybody could react, he was already close to the young girl, grabbing her shirt and pushing her aside. She violently landed on the wood ground, grimacing. The man with the Roman nose sighed with exasperation before he took the cloaked figure’s wrist in his hand and walked towards Green, X, and Whi-two. X already moved, not focusing on the terrorists but on his friend who nearly died. Whi-two was starting to panic, not knowing what she should do. And before Green could try to help them, he was pushed against the wall, and the terrorists entered the gallery just behind them, quickly followed by their third friend, who gave a last look to Shauna before he left. 

Green silently cursed as he himself grabbed Whi-two's wrist to follow the terrorist trio. Cilan and X would be enough to take care of the Furfrou stylist. Green knew that if he was alone, his chance to succeed against their opponents was near to zero. Thanks to his job and his experience, he knew how to recognize a strong trainer when he saw one. There was no doubt that the ones they had to fight had extensively trained Pokémon, a lot of experience, and well-planned out strategies. They were probably at the same level as some of his other gym leaders. Underestimating them would be dangerous.

They had once again walked between the different rocks, but instead of taking the right path to come back on their steps, they followed the terrorists on the left one. Two turns on the left later and they could see the light entering from the second entrance. They arrived on another bridge, one that was once probably the same as the one their three teammates were still on, but the bridge was separated by a huge and unnatural hole. Their three opponents, with the cloaked figure at the lead, did not hesitate while roaming the wood structure. They were all coordinated, and a little bit quicker than the Kantosian Gym leader and his Unovan Junior. And as they arrived at the end of the bridge, instead of heading to another gallery, they jumped inside a hole in the rock.

Green wanted to follow them at first, but he had to stop after he slipped on the wood. The hole they jumped in was too far, too low, and he immediately knew it would be physically impossible for both him and Whi-two to do it. How did their opponents manage to do it? If a normal person tried it, they would end up breaking their legs! But they just did it as if it was normal for anyone to do it. He was blinking, trying to understand what happened before his ears heard someone calling him from beyond. He closed his eyes, sighing.

The attack was not over yet, but he already knew that they had lost this battle.

* * *

_Night-slash._ Cutting off. _Crunch_. Counterattack. _Mega-Punch_. Avoid. _Work-Up_. Reinforce. _Leech Seed_. Imprison. _Ice-Beam_. Destroy. _Assurance_. Riposte, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

The blows were exchanged without a single break. Move, always, attack, do not stop. Otherwise, it is the end. White panted from exhaustion. Nothing was going right. Their Go-Goggles were useless because, without night vision or X-ray vision, they were not helpful in all the darkness and the fog that did not stop to become thicker. 

Blue, Silver, Y and White struggled to catch up with their opponents. While the four of them had to work without their eyes, it was not the case with their enemies, or at least one of them. One of their voices kept yelling, finding where the Dexholder's Pokémon are hiding, giving directions to people on his side to fight back. And they did not hesitate to use this advantage at all. They attacked and then hid in the fog before White or her new friends could have enough time to identify the Pokémon their opponents used. This fight was anything but a fair one.

The Dreamer understood why Green said they were dangerous, because they indeed were. They were strong, but they did not only have brute force. One of them was able to see in the dark and the fog, which meant that they had tools to help them with whatever their goal was. They knew how to use their Pokémon to their maximum potential, showing quite a bit of experience in that field. They had the knowledge to accomplish what they wanted to. To create such a thick and blinding fog, the fire that caused the fog had to be a huge one. They were determined, ready to use every method, even the more extreme ones, to get what they want. Those kinds of people could be nothing but dangerous, and the Dreamer could not help but feel a shiver go down her spine, and certainly not because she was cold.

Amanda suddenly cried in pain, burned by a sudden Fire-move. From where it came from, she had no idea, the reddish glints already disappearing in the darkness, but she knew for sure that her Serperior was exhausted. And she was not the only one. The Absol, the Blastoise, and the Weavile on her side were not in the best condition either. They were slowly, but surely, losing, in a dark and vicious way, like the low growling that had been resonating around them for some minutes now...

Wait, a growling? A drum roll, not coming from the left or the right but from all directions, even above and under? She blinked. No, this growling was surely not coming from her imagination, and it was anything but reassuring. She noticed that the attack had slowed down, nearly stopping even, as both her teammates and terrorists were trying to hear what was happening. 

And as the growling was increasing and that the ground, the wall, the cell around them started to furiously quake, both Blue and the woman who was their enemy yelled at the same time, "RUN, NOW!"

The Dreamer did not have time to think of anything as something, a Pokémon or a friend, she could not see it, was grabbing her wrist and quickly took her away, running in the direction of the light in front of them. It was the only thing they could make out despite the fog. The growling became a loud crash, loud for them but probably lost for the rest of the mountain as the low sound melted with the violent crackling of the fire. And as she finally managed to arrive outside, on one of the little wooden bridges, the gallery behind them collapsed.

White looked around her and could not help but sigh of relief as she saw Blue, Y and Silver near her, the Flyer's hand still firmly gripping her wrist. They all made it in time, none of them stayed behind, none of them was injured or lost or something worse. She could not help but also notice that none of the terrorists was with them. Were they trapped under the rocks or did they find a way to flee? At least, this time, the collapsing was not something planned by the terrorists. She then took the time to study her surroundings. The gallery behind them was completely blocked by an impressive amount of rocks. Of course, the mine was not made for such violent fighting, and it broke as a result. Going back inside was simply impossible now. And unfortunately for them, the wooden bridge they went to was not a bridge but a platform stuck behind two walls. It was too high from the ground and too far and low from the other bridges to jump without serious wounds. The collapsing had trapped them on that small platform.

The four of them looked at each other, already knowing that they can’t do anything about their current situation. They had no way to leave the platform and using their flying Pokémon was way too dangerous with the fog and the fire. And even if thanks to a miracle they managed to get off the platform quickly, they would never be able to find their enemies again in this maze of galleries and bridges. They had lost, partly because they had fought carelessly in a place that was not able to hold the fight.

"That," Y stated suddenly, trying to break the suppressing silence, "is one of the main reasons why I prefer Sky Battles. Mountains are so unpleasant and dangerous, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, they are," Blue smiled in return. "It would be so much easier if we could just jump like those guys... Heh?!"

Just above them, three people jumped from a higher bridge and landed on one of the holes that the collapsing created. They blinked, stunned, as their eyes went from the bridge, to the hole, and to the bridge again. How did they accomplish that? It should have been physically impossible! But they did it as if it was the simplest thing in the world. What just happened? Blue eventually noticed one of her fellow Dexholder from Kanto as she started to call for Green.

Apparently, they were not the only ones who arrived at a dead end.

* * *

Everything happened in only a few seconds.

A blue ball filled with energy came out of nowhere, clearing the fog, and before any one of them could react, or even notice the move, the ball of energy landed on the ground, only a few centimetres away from Gold's shoe. Immediately, a crater appeared, and the Johto boy lost his balance, falling on the ground. Red reacted immediately, trying to reach the Breeder, but stopped, as he had noticed something. His body reacted on his own, thanks to the experience he got in years of fighting. He was able to release his Poli just in time to block a Fire Punch. Cress started to move too, his hand grabbing Simipour's Poké Ball, ready to release Simipour, and it would have worked if his arm did move. Unfortunately, something was immobilizing his hands, as well as his legs and his entire body.

"Musha! Brav!"

Black did not need to say anything else, as his two childhood partners perfectly knew what he wanted. As the Drowsing Pokémon glomped his trainer's head, Black started to focus on the situation, his eyes analyzing everything around him. 

Where the attacks came from. Two... No, three different directions. The Pokémon who used Fire-Punch, deformed humanoid form, middle size claws, thick fur, size of a young kid, a bit more than one meter. Not from Unova. Trainer not far, their bracelets twinkling. 

Another humanoid Pokémon, on a farther rock, the one who sent the ball of energy, their standing sturdier, neither thick fur or claws, not the same species. Used Aura-Sphere, probably a Fighting Pokémon. Humanoid form, was it a Mienshao? Too far to know exactly. Shadow of their trainer could be confused with their partner, but their trainer was taller, wearing a hat, two huge straws of hair out. 

The last Pokémon is only a point in the fog, probably between the two trainers. Small, flying. Impossible to recognize correctly, but the String Shot came from this direction, so probably a Flying-Bug or Flying-Grass type Pokémon. Would prefer the first option. No trainer around it, so it probably obeyed a command from one of the other two.

Three foes. The humanoid Pokémon is the most dangerous, able to cover a large zone. Would be better to eliminate it first.

"Brav! On your right, at twenty meters, Sky Drop!" yelled Black as he pulled Musha away from his head.

The Valiant Pokémon did not wait for a second, flying to the target, his talons imprisoning his target to bring it high, high in the sky, before dropping them. So far in the sky that Brav could not hear the voice of the human girl he trained with a few days ago in time, yelling at him to stop now, that he was attacking the wrong target. When he noticed the yellow star on the fist of the Pokémon he just attacked, he realized that it was not one of the enemies, but one of the Pokémon who fought with the same girl yelling at him, the Hitmonchan that was from Johto. He flew towards the ground, trying to pick up the Punching Pokémon before they both landed on the rocks beneath them. Unfortunately, Brav had used too much strength in his attack and he was not quick enough. The cry of the Pokémon hurting the ground sounded painful, and without a doubt, Hitmonchan had suffered from a lot of damages but, fortunately for them, he seemed to be still able to fight.

"Black! Be careful!" yelled Crystal, a trace of anger in her voice. "You just attacked Monlee!"

"Sorry, Senior Crystal! I thought..."

He could not continue, as the world around him became fuzzy. It was not only an expression; he could not make out the difference between the ground and the sky, left and right. The shadows he already had issues to see lost their shape, becoming a horrific nightmare, surrounding him, suffocating him. He was losing his balance, and before he realized it, he was already on the ground, sat in a less than elegant position. Not that he cared about the pose he is in. Not that it helped him to come back to his senses. The world around him was still spinning in a whirlwind of colors. He blinked. A whirlwind of colors, coming back to his senses, no balance... Were not all of these symptoms coming from the move Extrasensory?

He was totally incapacitated and could do nothing because a heavy mass crushed him to the ground. He could not move, and his eyes were not useful anymore. However, the ringing in his ears started to fade away, and he could at least hear what was happening around him. Gold and Red were yelling, somewhere, and Cress tried to give an order, but it was useless in the chaos going on.

"You all, stop that! You’re only..." Crystal tried to say something else, but her voice faded out, covered by the battles around.

Black heard the muffled sound of someone landing on the ground, and the clinking of something metallic.

"You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right..." Lack-Two started to say with his typical emotionless voice.

"Lack-Two! It's me, Red!" the unfortunate Fighter signaled, his hand now attached behind his back, stopping Pika from attacking the Arrester with a nod.

"Senior Red? But why... Wait, would that mean... Byron, Tierno, stop, now!"

"Stop now?" The Sinnohsian Gym Leader's voice was way too close to Black for his taste. "Why should I? I just caught one of them!'

And then the Dreamer understood. Extrasensory. The mass crushing him. His vision was a bit clearer now, enough to let him see what was crushing him. He sighed. Of course, the mass on him was nothing else than one of Byron's two Bronzongs. They were a group of idiots. They were all lured by their senses and lured by some attacks. 

Instead of fighting against the terrorists, they had just fought and neutralized their own allies. He did not doubt now, that the victorious jeer of Gold not far away and the groaning of Tierno were linked. Black opened his mouth, trying to say something. 

"Sorry, but it was the quickest way to end that for all of us. Lycanroc, Stone-Edge!" A female voice Black never heard before interrupted him.

The edges began to grow, surrounding them, before imprisoning them in a kind of circle, with no way to get out without destroying the rocks itself.

"That voice, there’s no way..." muttered Byron, who was then interrupted by Crystal's irritated voice.

"You idiots, did you realize that you just attacked each other? They’re running away because of that! I know it's hard to distinguish each other in the fog, but for Arceus’s sake, please try not to attack everything that moves! Now, help me break down the rock, if we’re quick enough maybe we'll be able to stop them just in time!"

But the optimism of Professor Oak's assistant did not come true. When they had finally destroyed their prison, their enemies were already far away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact of the chapter: You know about my obsession concerning for example the different places where events of the fics occur? Here two little place facts for you.
> 
> In chapter 15 part 1, Green had an appointment with his friends in a restaurant with a “countdown clock about a hot dog eating”. This restaurant is inspired by Nathan’s Famous. Indeed, as Nimbasa City is inspired from Coney Island. The first Nathan’s Famous store opened in Coney Island, and as it is their original location, it is also where they hold the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest every year. 
> 
> And for Chapter 16, all the different paths our favorite protagonists are using really exist in the ingame. I literally have a map with all the tunnels and bridges with every paths both Dexholders and terrorists used and let me tell you that ugh Twist Mountains are a horrible twisty maze- I spent hours working only on the preparation of the paths, which was even worse than Lumiose City.
> 
> Anyway, see you all later for chapter 17!


End file.
